In A Bind

It's likely you heard Governor Romney's comment about having binders of qualified women when he was putting together his Massachusetts cabinet. It was the kind of remark that makes perfect material for those of us who would like to poke fun at the Governor.

Binders, otherwise known as notebooks, are still in use even though so much of our information today is digital. We keep files in our smart phones and in our computers, but occasionally we might have use for a binder. One of those three ring binders with the hole punched paper inside.

And while Governor Romney's comment was funny in a sad way, or sad in a funny way, some of us are not blameless when it comes to carrying around binders full of stuff. There is one binder in particular that puts us in a bind. That would be the one marked, "Something Bad Happened the Last Time I Did That."

We carry around this old, well worn binder, and open it when we come upon a new situation. It could be a romantic relationship, where we won't give a guy a chance because the last time we were involved with a man, it didn't go so well. So while on the one hand, we yearn for love, we find ourselves sitting home because of all the bad stuff so well documented in the binder.

We don't go for that new business venture, because as the papers in that binder will clearly show, the last time we stuck our neck out it almost got chopped off. And why start eating healthier, when the last time we attempted that, we just lapsed back into our old habits within a few weeks? And yes, we could jog or go to the gym or take a Zumba class, but the binder clearly documents our intense hatred for any kind of physical activity.

The older we get and the longer we live, the more we stuff papers into that binder until it will hardly close. We hate it because it reminds us of all our failures, yet we love it because it is an excuse not to try anything new. We could be living a fuller life, we could be on the road to finding the happiness and peace we crave, if we were not constantly referring to our binder marked, "Something Bad Happened the Last Time I Did That."

How about you? Do you carry around a binder? Has it got you in a bind?

Susan