The Will and the Way

Whenever the question of solving drinking problems by means of willpower arises, I think of the well-known Oriental finger puzzle. This finger puzzle, a dime-store item with a centuries-old history, is a plaited fiber sheath that fits the fingers snugly and has a diabolical way of gripping with increasing pressure the more one struggles to pull himself free. The irony in this entrapment is that a person's own exertion of strength is used to hold him fast.