Have you ever thought about how easy it is to do everything for your children and solve all their problems.
Years ago I met a young woman who was about 27 years old. She was supposed to meet me in town to talk about her business and when she didn’t show up I called her.
She was besides herself, crying and not making much sense. When I got her to calm down enough to tell me what was wrong she told me her boyfriend had left her and by the time she paid her rent she had $1.70 left for the month. Someone had broken into her car by shattering a window to steal her stereo. While she was outside surveying the damage her dog ran into the street and got hit by a car and was at the veterinarians and she didn’t have the money to pick him up.
Anyone would agree with her there was probable cause to be overly upset, but she was paralyzed with indecision.
I asked her if she realized she lived less than six blocks from no less than eight to ten restaurants. She agreed and I asked her if she thought she could get a job as a waitress for a time until she caught up with her finances.
I told her to call the vet and arrange payments and pick up her dog, since I was sure the vet wouldn’t want to keep the dog indefinitely.
I suggested she put cardboard over the window until she could afford to replace the window and use a walkman to listen to music instead of the radio until she could replace it.
Oddly enough, she was laughing by the end of our conversation and amazed at the simplicity of solving all of her dilemma. Of course a few months later she was all on the mends and she had a new perspective in life. She thanked me for helping her how to do problem solving techniques.