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"Metaphors are more than literary devices, of course: most of us use metaphors, albeit unconsciously, to name our experience of life. But these personal metaphors do much more then describe reality as we know it. Animated by imagination, one of the most vital powers we possess, our metaphors often become reality, transmitting themselves from language into the living of our lives. I know people who say, "life is like a game of chance, some win, some lose." But that metaphor can create a fatalism about losing or an obsession with beating the odds. I know other people say, "life is like a battlefield, you get the enemy, or the enemy gets you.". But that metaphor can result in enemies around every corner in a constant sense of siege. We do well to choose our metaphors wisely." (From "Let Your Life Speak" by Parker Palmer)