A Soulful Journey

The celebrated cinematic sage, Mel Brooks, tells the story of a middle-aged man who had been the despair of his family for years before because of his compulsive habit of tearing paper to bits and scattering the pieces wherever he went. At great expense, the family dragged him to world-renowned Freudians, Jungians, Adlerians.  Finally, they turned to an obscure but innovative new therapist. With the anxious family looking on, this visionary put his arm around the patient's shoulder and said, "Let's take a little walk."  The pair walked from one end of the office to the other, the doctor whispering in the patient's ear.  At last they stopped, and the doctor said: "You can take him home.  He's cured."  A year later, when the habit had not returned, thee amazed and grateful family asked the doctor, "What did you tell him?"  "I told him." shrugged the miracle worker, "Don't tear paper." Sometimes being direct works.

When the obvious is right in front of us, we often ignore it, preferring to over-analyze and over-interpret the decisions facing us.   Comedian Mel Brooks tells the story of a man named John who had a maddening compulsion to tear paper.   After years of psychoanalysis, John was still tearing paper. And his family was losing hope.   They finally took him to a new therapist.   The fellow walked with John around the room and talked quietly to him.   When John left, he was cured. A year later, John’s compulsion had not returned.   The grateful family asked the therapist what he had said to John.   The therapist responded, “I told him, “Don’t tear paper!” -R. Robert Cueni, The Vital Church Leader Sometimes it is enough just to say, “No.”