Have you ever told yourself ‘enough is enough’… and then gone right back to the thing you were walking away from?

That’s why this week’s #MetaphorAndMeMonday metaphor, ‘drawing a line in the sand’, has been sitting with me as I return from a week away.

2025 has been a frustrating year (and 2024 wasn’t much better) and I’m wanting to draw a line in the sand about my judgement about what has or hasn’t happened about my Landscaping Your Life work.

This poem also came from one of those moments - a walk on the beach, a heart full of tangled thoughts, and a stick in my hand.

The poem was written a few years ago when I needed to draw the line in the sand about another situation that was making me very anxious and stressed. And was written after I’d stood on the beach and embodied the saying – walking back and forth and drawing those lines with a stick I found on the beach and noticing what I noticed

I think the insights shared in the poem demonstrate the value of embodying the metaphor contained in your language in this way when you’re stuck, lost or confused – and how helpful it can be in uncovering new and different perspectives.

Drawing A Line In The Sand

Oh – so many times I’ve drawn the line in the sand
Wanting to walk away from that which no longer serves
Too many times walking away only to return
Like a moth to the flame
Forgetting my desire to be free of its enchantment

How then do I draw the line
And then walk away from that line
Knowing I will not step back over the line - again
Nor will I return

What is the difference that will make the difference

For some it may be the length of line
The direction of the line
The breadth or shape of the line
Or the commitment with which the line was drawn

Instead of half-hearted drawing it certainly requires convicted drawing
Letting go of the perfection needed for the drawing too
Taking time to adequately plan the drawing
And certainly, a lack of distraction

It’s not though just about drawing the line
It’s about our actions thereafter
Seeing the line and then stepping away from it
Turning our back on the line never to look back

To park the old story
To lock it away and throw away the key
And commit to starting a new story
A story that support and nourishes

If you were to draw a line in the sand today -what would you be ready to walk away from?