“No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” - Fellowship: Meetings and the Help of Trusted Support People

The rhyme “No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” is a favorite among all the little kids in my world. For those of you who don’t know, it starts out, “Five little monkeys jumping on a bed. One fell off and broke (or “bumped” depending upon the rendition) his head. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, ‘No more monkeys jumping on the bed.” It goes on to tell the story of the four that were left and how they learned absolutely nothing from the one who is now under a doctor’s care. One by one they mindlessly take up jumping again. One by one they repeat the experience of the first little monkey until all of them have been carried off on a stretcher and there are literally, “No more monkeys jumping on the bed!” Why? Because there are no more monkeys left! One day I was singing this song with a group of kids I care a lot about and the thought came to me, “You know Nannette, there’s a message here!”

One blessing of attending recovery meetings and seeking out and working with the support of those who have personally applied the 12 Steps, is the opportunity to learn from the experience of others. And what experience do we share? We share what life was like for us when we refused countless times to learn from the suffering of others and the resulting fall that broke our bodies, our spirits, and our relationships. Then we share the great contrast between life then and our life in recovery today.

This is a rhyme about five little monkeys who refused to begin a life in recovery by learning from the experience of their fellow primates. My hope is that someday there will be an end to the cycle of needless damage to bodies and souls. Someday there will be “No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” not because the last little monkey has fallen of, but because we choose to learn from each other, from those who have gone before, to accept God’s direction and power, and to opt out of destructive behavior. Any one of us can put an end to this rhyme. We can say, “This Little Monkey’s Done Jumping on the Bed!” With God’s help I can do it today!

By Nannette W.
Posted Friday, September 5, 2008

Copyright 2008 by Nannette W. All right reserved.
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