The Mole Exterminator

In her book, Fierce Conversations, Susan Scott tells a story about her brother, whose task it was to rid the backyard of moles.

He tried everything.

He tried filling in their holes, smoking them out with fire and even blowing them up with dynamite.

But it didn’t matter what he tried, they kept coming back.

One day, the brother was at the local store and he saw a man wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words “Mole Exterminator” on the back.

So he introduced himself and asked what the secret was to killing moles.

The mole exterminator smiled and surprised the brother with his response.

“I don’t kill moles.  I get rid of the grubs that they eat and the moles don’t return.”

Sometimes, we have recurring issues in our lives, problems that we try to deal with, but they keep hanging around despite our best intentions.

It could be a marriage issue, a foul temper, a negative work situation, a bad habit or addiction that you want to break.

Unfortunately, if you don’t deal with the real issue below the surface, your attempts at change may be futile.

If you find yourself struggling with the same issue over and over and despite your best efforts, it keeps raising its head, perhaps its time to admit that you’ve been trying to get rid of the moles, when it’s the grubs you need to deal with.