I own a great little tool. It is a hammer AND a bottle opener.  I don’t know why I bought it, except to say it was an unexpected combination.  One day, I had a visitor who wanted a bottle opener.

I yelled from the bedroom, “Look for the hammer!”  He yelled back, “I said a bottle opener!”  I yelled back, “Look for the hammer in the drawer with the knives!”

This exchange went back and forth until I came out of the bedroom and made him LOOK into the drawer and he said, “OHH!!” He then tried to start a conversation about how stupid it was to put a bottle opener and a hammer together.  I did not engage. I went back to what ever I had been doing.

Why am I telling you this story?

We all have problems to solve.  My friend’s problem was HOW to get the beer out of a bottle that did not have a twist off cap.  It was a significant problem for him.

You probably have a significant problem you are trying to solve today, and you may not give yourself permission to look for a tool in an unlikely place.  Perhaps a piece of your solution will come from a poem, or a book, or a coach, or a therapist.   Perhaps a piece of the solution is meditation combined with exercise combined with rock climbing. Maybe the solution is a hobby, like quilting, and you will decide to enter your quilt into a competition because you are competitive. Perhaps you will decide to learn to swim at age 50 and do an Olympic Distance Triathlon, like I did.

My point is that solutions come from a variety of places and people.  Try not to discount anything until you have given it a try.  There will be lots of people who will tell you HOW to solve your problem because it’s the way they solved a similar problem.

Maybe you will be irritated with them and lash out.

Try to tell them that you would like them to NOT advise you for the next three weeks while you ponder solutions for yourself.  Put YOU at the center of your solution and listen to the whisper you get about certain solutions you might try.

Remember when I said, “Look for the hammer,” it made NO sense to my friend until he saw the hammer attached to the bottle opener.

What kind of strange gadget might be the right tool for you?

Good luck looking.  Have fun looking.

Love and light,
Indrani