Solving a Problem.

Solving a Problem.

            The number one life skill I wish to pass on to my magnificent brood is the ability to think on their feet. I am a problem solver from childhood. My father was the one that taught me to think along the lines of making it, fixing it, or improving it if didn’t work. “It” can be anything. Tools, décor, bookshelves, cars, you name it. I loved making things with my father. (Ok, so repairing cars wasn’t fun, but I can impress you with my knowledge of them.)

            When I started this blog, I kept having difficulty with my hard plosive sounds. You know, that noise of the P that is the little forceful expulsion of air that comes from making the sound. I thought about what I had learned from my obsession with the music industry. I realized I needed a wind screen for the mic. This is the mesh shield to catch the air and keep the noise from reaching my recording. Now, here in America, I am always surprised by the response that my fellow citizens have to this sort of situation.

            I know in my heart that many would have said that I needed to buy a professional mic with stand and fancy pants professional screen. The cheapest I was able to find right now on Google was 100.00. Now, I have a hundred bucks. I ALSO have a vegetable strainer and crocheted pot holder. I spent twenty bucks on a webcam with mic and now hold it inside my potholder covered vegetable strainer. My solution is cheaper and works pretty well. I figured it out without a huge expense.

            There are corners of the world that are surprising me and encouraging this kind of thinking. I love Etsy how it inspires creative people to make useful and pretty things. People are seeing patterns and having ideas that I deeply appreciate. Engendering a love of making, doing, figuring out, exploring, and trying is key to my parenting style.  I was thrilled when my daughter learned to crochet. It seems that these kinds of creative people learn to look at all of life’s problems with a “How do we fix it” attitude.

            Those times when I feel stuck or stymied, I do not sit around and wait for someone to figure it out for me or hand me all I need to solve my next dilemma. Instead, I look to what I have on hand. What skills, ideas, solutions and new ways of thinking do I need to adopt to kick this problem? Sometimes, I need to jettison something like a bad habit. Rarely do I have to go buy something, change everything about myself, or try to be something I’m not. In fact, when I have tried those solutions, I almost broke inside. God has made me to be me and given me what I need to figure it out.

            So, if you are feeling lost as to what to do with a problem you are facing, look at your life and figure it out. I promise, just putting one foot out and taking a step is usually all that is needed.