Musings One
Easy Looks Like…
Situations can sometimes feel daunting.
It may be a challenging task or conversation. Or a medical challenge.
Or, life can sometimes be too many ‘to-dos’ and not enough time.
And in many cases, a problem that isn’t mine to fix.
In times like these, I will ask myself what is easy and what is within my control.
I have discovered some interesting answers when I ask myself this question.
A delay in action may be the answer.
The problem isn’t mine to manage.
Perhaps it's not a difficult conversation, but rather an open question to be asked.
It is NOT pulling up the big girl panties and gritting my way through, which is hard.
I encountered this the other day when someone brought me a problem that wasn't within my area of responsibility. Still, they were insistent that I take action about it. After days of internal wrangling with the issue, I addressed the problem by bringing it to the attention of someone I thought could influence the challenge. It only made matters worse. This is the equivalent of pulling up my “big girl” panties and plowing forward to “fix” what wasn’t mine to fix.
If I had asked myself if this was my problem, I would have answered ‘no,’ and not taken on the responsibility for something I didn’t cause, nor was in my power to fix.
In this situation, my “easy” answer could have been to listen to the person bringing the problem to me and ask them what they could do to address it, rather than taking on the responsibility myself.
What are you facing today? What is in your control? What would be your easy way forward?