Lessons from Carrie
Marjorie Flowers
Many,
many years ago, I learned what would be one of the most valuable
lessons in life. My niece was four or five when the Rubik's Cube
was all the rage. She was watching me fiddle with it and asked
why. I explained that the object was to have each side the same
color. A while later, she showed me the solved Rubik's
Cube. I decided she must be some kind of savant, so I mixed it up
and asked her to show me how she did it. She sat cross-legged in
the floor and carefully peeled off each of the vinyl squares, stuck
them in a line on her legs, and then she replaced them -- the same
colors on each of the sides.
The lesson? There is ALWAYS more than one way to approach a problem, and if we allow ourselves to concentrate on the goal rather than the means of getting there, we can find creative solutions. She didn't break any rules, at least not as I defined them. I merely told her to get all the same colors on the same side of the cube. And she did.
Today, I had what should have been a simple home improvement project -- hang a mini-blind. I read the instructions and followed them carefully, including using a level. And all was well until I replaced the cornice board over the window. The straight line of the bottom edge of the cornice board made it painfully evident that the blind was, in fact, not level. Exhausted, frustrated, and faced with the prospect of taking the #!*@$!# blind down and redoing the whole process, I walked away. And as I was sitting there sulking, I thought of my niece.
Instead of lowering one side of the mini-blind, I realized I could accomplish the same result by raising the other side of the cornice board. All it took was stacking adhesive felt circles till I got the right height. Two minutes later, done!
Thank you, Carrie!
The lesson? There is ALWAYS more than one way to approach a problem, and if we allow ourselves to concentrate on the goal rather than the means of getting there, we can find creative solutions. She didn't break any rules, at least not as I defined them. I merely told her to get all the same colors on the same side of the cube. And she did.
Today, I had what should have been a simple home improvement project -- hang a mini-blind. I read the instructions and followed them carefully, including using a level. And all was well until I replaced the cornice board over the window. The straight line of the bottom edge of the cornice board made it painfully evident that the blind was, in fact, not level. Exhausted, frustrated, and faced with the prospect of taking the #!*@$!# blind down and redoing the whole process, I walked away. And as I was sitting there sulking, I thought of my niece.
Instead of lowering one side of the mini-blind, I realized I could accomplish the same result by raising the other side of the cornice board. All it took was stacking adhesive felt circles till I got the right height. Two minutes later, done!
Thank you, Carrie!
Marjorie Flowers 2014 © Used
with Permission of the author.