We were literally stuck in our backyard this morning. Sprinklers were going off. Boys were going to be late for school. Our back driveway is inside our backyard with an electric gate at the end. We are in the middle of the install of a brand new fence scheduled to be finished today with a fresh coat of stain. If the gate won't open, then we are going to be stuck in our backyard. We got so frustrated that the suggestion was made to.....smash through the gate.
Of course we weren't going to do that. But for a moment I really thought it was a good idea.
I was trying to get to work after dropping off two frustrated teenage boys. They had trouble putting all this in perspective. With standardized testing this morning at school, their anxiety was off the charts.
How many times have you had a problem and the solution just wasn't quick to surface? Many times I'm sure. For my boys, they just haven't lived on this earth long enough to put this in perspective. With the Malaysian Jet missing, a boat capsizing in South Korea, our neighbor's recent double mastectomy, my patient who has suddenly found herself without income, and the forensic case I'm working on where a 2 year old sweet little girl lost three fingers in an unfortunately accident......the gate not opening is "nothing".
Really.
According to Author Robert H. Schuller, "Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines."
Whether it is our gate this morning, the brick walls you come across daily in your work, or the challenges you are facing in your family, it's important to put it all in perspective.
While we want to just smash through all of it, that would be counterproductive. Use problems as guidelines and be better for it.