This is a beautiful way at looking at a problem - I've adapted it from a story I read yesterday and I hope it strikes a chord:
A group of friends were larking about in a large pond on a late summer's afternoon when one of the young women became extremely agitated. She'd been wearing her grandmother's diamond eternity ring and it was missing.
The friends immediately rallied to help her find it - diving over and over again to the pond's bed - feeling around for the ring with their hands and stirring up mud and muck in the process. The longer they struggled to find the ring, the more murky and dark the water became.
Realising the futility of their approach, one of them suggested they try a different method. Sunbaking. They all got out of the pond and lazed on their towels for an hour, while the water stilled.
When they stood around the pond again, peering in at the clear water, someone caught sight of something glinting in the sunlight. He entered the water very slowly, edging towards the source of the sparkling until it was clearly visible in front of him, then he reached in slowly and retrieved the ring.
There's more than one way of doing things. Sometimes we must be calm before we can find the right solution. Next time you face a problem, how will you solve it? By stirring up muck or by sunbaking?
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I had a similar experience the other day. I was starting a project to put up some large shelves in our garage and needed to drill some pilot holes to take the screws that would hold the heavy brackets on the walls. Having located the studs, I put the bit into the drill and set about my work. I wondered, as the drill laboured, whether the battery was getting flat or the timber was tougher than expected, but I pushed on. It was only when I changed the drill bit out for a screwdriver bit and gave the trigger a gentle squeeze that I realised the drill was in reverse! The lesson? If you're working hard and not making any progress, first make sure you're going in the right direction!!
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