“But first I will tell you a story, told to me when I was a young adult. It is about a vole” Epic settled down and cleared his throat, “Well, this vole was a tremendous climber and was training to be a warrior. As part of his training, a trial was given to him. He was taken into a dark cave, which was sealed behind him. Now, it was completely dark in the cave apart from a light high above. He was given enough food to survive for a week and he was told that the challenge was to find a way out of the cave.
The walls were difficult to climb, but at the top they angled inwards toward a ledge. Day after day the warrior climbed but he repeatedly fell onto the ledge, unable to escape. Soon his food ran out and he was too weak to climb. Before he starved he was rescued. On being released, he was told that the wall was impossible to climb, but he had still failed the test.”
The squirrel regarded Daisy and Milo in turn, before settling his gaze solely on the vole.“So Milo, what would you have done in that situation? Would you have passed the test?”
Milo racked his brains but could not think of a solution………………….
Just as Epic was about to reveal the answer, he turned to Daisy.
“Daisy, I think you may have the answer to this. What do you think?”
Surprised, Daisy turned wide eyes upon the squirrel, but she answered almost immediately.
“Well, I know that I would not have been able to climb out, so very quickly I would have given up” She paused a moment, “Now, if it was a trial, then there would be a solution. Maybe it was not a trial of strength. I think maybe there was a tunnel behind the cave walls that would have led him out.”
“Brilliant, Daisy!” exclaimed Epic, “If he had given up climbing and started digging into the walls, he would indeed have found a way through the softer stone and earth. The tunnel would have been dark and small and most unpleasant and scary to crawl through, but if he had faced his fear of the unknown and pulled himself through, he would finally have arrived into the light, free and triumphant! There is a proverb which sums up the answer...
Trouble is a tunnel you pass through not a brick wall you break your head against. ”