Night time visitor. Found these raccoon tracks around my barn and circling my back door this morning.

When I walked into the room, Marty was kneeling on the floor, pushing down on a jar, twisting its cap on.  I reached out to hold the jar while he tightened the cap.  He’d just finished a day of plumbing my new bathroom.  I told him how I’d stripped out three screws that morning trying to hang a silly towel hook in the kitchen.  And how I’d ended in frustration, tossing the screwdriver down the cellar stairs.  “Well, I threw it, actually,” I admitted, ashamed.   “Do you ever get frustrated?” I asked him.  “Of course!” he answered.  “Yea, but you always find a way.  And you always seem to smile!” I countered.  “How do you do it?”  I mean, he’s a seasoned professional builder for 30 years.  A few years ago he re-learned how to do everything with one arm and hand.  He can (and does) do anything.  So here’s what he told me, and I try to remember these things when I encounter something challenging.

1.  Sometimes you just need to walk away for a bit.

2.  Think it through.  If plan A isn’t working, look at it from a different angle.

3.  Be patient with yourself.

But what struck me most was this one:

4.  Don’t ever say that this would be easier with two hands.  It just doesn’t help.

Sometimes when I’m facing a challenge, I look at what I DON’T have and think how if only I had that husband/money/location/whatever that this would be SO much easier.  Poor me.  If only.  Well, Marty reminded me to just look at what I have to work with right now, and find a way through the problem with that stuff in hand.  It’s self-defeating to look at it any other way.  I try to remember this wisdom when I face a task that feels bigger than me.  I haven’t thrown too many screwdrivers down the cellar stairs lately.