Burn
Why is it impossible to cook on a a grill with old coal? It doesn't matter if you place new coal on top or add a whole bottle of lighter fluid to it... the flame will only ignite. It will never stay aflame.
Why will a candle not burn with an old wick? No matter how many times you try to light it and burn yourself in the process... it just will not stay aflame.
For fire to exist it must have oxygen, fuel, and heat (a lot of it). In these occurrences, two of the three were present, but not fuel. The coal was contaminated with old, damp coal. The wick was already burnt out resulting in no usable fuel for the fire to start. A "simple" scientific phenomena easily shows that for a substance to burn, it must have something of value to keep it going.
Both of the above scenarios occurred to me within twenty four hours this week. The coal incident happened the same day I wasted hours of my life ruminating on insignificant worries my anxiety so graciously bestowed upon me.
These shortcomings might seem small to small minded people, but to a mind that is in a state of regrowth, they metaphorically represented my psychological hindrances. A mind cannot grow (burn) without a new mindset (fuel). As long as you hold onto those useless, toxic memories and emotions you will never fulfill your purpose. One cannot burn vivaciously with a dead or burdened spirit. Remove whats old, welcome the new, and simply, burn.