Thoughts are like water; they fit whatever container you put them into.

Metaphors and analogies are such useful and creative ways to convey ideas, but they shape those ideas as much as they express and illustrate them. Think about pouring a liter of water into a tall, thin, and cylindrical bottle versus into a short, squat, and bulbous vase. While the amount of water may be exactly the same, the form is completely different. Metaphors are containers of a sort, as well. The same general thought poured into two different metaphors takes on completely different shapes, and what you know⏤consciously or subconsciously⏤about that shape influences how you think about the thought being held by it.

Here’s an example: You are at a moment in life when you face many different options from which to make a choice. The metaphor in your mind is that you picture yourself as being at a fork in the road, except that instead of two roads to choose between, there are many. Each road represents a completely different path you could take. Standing at that fork is exhilarating because you have so many options, but it is also overwhelming and slightly daunting. You must think very carefully before you choose which road to take. After all, a wrong choice will literally take you down the wrong path. In this scenario, making a decision is stressful, because you don’t want to make the wrong choice, and go down the wrong road.

Now, imagine changing the metaphor entirely, and pouring this thought into a completely different container. Instead of thinking of all of your options as roads, think of them as individual fishing lines cast out into the water. If your options are roads, you have to chose one, and abandon the others, because you can’t take two roads at once. By definition, your options are mutually exclusive. If your options are fishing lines, however, you can have as many lines in the water as you want, and can tend to each one as needed. When one line is active and fruitful, you simply turn your attention to that one, and leave the quiet ones be. This metaphor allows you to see your options as items you can move among, instead of things you have to choose between. Instead of worrying about making the wrong choice, you can focus on monitoring each exciting option for when it does and doesn’t need your direct attention. 

Next time you feel constrained by an issue, consider reframing your thoughts by putting them into a different container, a different metaphor, a different frame. Chances are that walking around your problem, and looking at it from different angles will show you a side of it that you never considered before. If a dirt road can become a fishing line, then a problem can become an opportunity, and a locked door can be your chance to crawl through a window.

Copyright 2025 Kesel Wilson (entirely, 100% human-created)

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