There’s Always a Solution.

My kids freak out regularly. This morning was no different.

Waverly has been working with three of her friends to prepare a dance to “Cotton Eye Joe” for the 5th grade talent show which will be held in a couple of weeks at the school carnival. I burned her a CD of the song, and they’ve been practicing at school and at a friend’s house. Well, today is the big audition to ensure that they can actually be part of the show. I can’t imagine them getting the boot, but there are some mean teachers at every school. Hopefully, I’ll hear some good news this afternoon.

Anyway…on the way out the door this morning (as we were running several minutes late), she announces in the most distraught voice, “I CAN’T FIND THE CD!!!”

Great…just great. The one day that she needs it more than any other, she can’t find it.

“I think I left it at school…yeah…it’s gotta be there,” she reassured herself.

Mid-way through our drive, she had convinced herself of the opposite, and she was falling apart.

“What if it’s not at school? What am I going to do? My friends are going to hate me!”

I wanted to respond with, “Yes, honey, they will…because you are irresponsible, and you can’t remember anything!!!”

Being the kind father that I am, I restrained. My response was what it always is…

“There’s always a solution.”

Whenever the kids freak out about something (which is often), that’s my pat answer. Not pat in the sense of worthless and insignificant…it’s just the thing I’ve gotten in the habit of saying. They roll their eyes, but those simple words seem to thrust us into a new possibility in the moment.

Before I utter the possibility, there seems to be nothing but doom and gloom in the forecast.

• If ___________ happens, life is over.
• If I don’t get ________________, everything will go wrong.
• If ___________ isn’t done on time, everyone will hate me.

I’m sure you’ve thought something like that a time or two. I’ve come to believe that all that is simply rubbish.

There is always a solution. I’m not saying that the “solution” will be quick or easy…but it isn’t over. Life (or that situation) isn’t done.

No matter how bad something gets, I have come to believe in possibilities…the possibility that something good can come out of a horrible situation. Something beautiful can emerge from something broken. If I believe that it’s possible, all of a sudden possibilities start showing up. When I believe that something impossible, then it usually turns out to be just that.

It turns out that she couldn’t find the CD in her class, so I committed to burn another one and drop it off in time for the audition. When I walked up to her classroom this afternoon, my daughter’s smiling face emerged…”Um…I guess…well, I guess somehow the CD was in my backpack the entire time. I love you!”

I just smiled and handed her the second copy…”I love you, too.”

What do you believe is too far “gone” in your life?
You marriage? Your health? Your weight? Your career? Your enjoyment of life?

There’s always a solution.
Are you willing to look for it?