Have you ever noticed how the power of talking with others can help to solve a problem we’re focused on that we can’t seem to solve? We go back and forth, wondering how to make the problem go away, disappear. How do we solve it? We get so wrapped up in in our little world that we often lose sight of what’s right in front of us. We can get upset and frustrated over something we’re sure has a solution — if we could think of one!
I’m getting my 6′-high walled patio redone, which is currently filled with gravel. A neighbor had mentioned wanting the gravel for her yard, but the guy doing the work called me this morning by saying he’s coming over to start in about a half hour.
Surprise!
My friend doesn’t live here in the village full-time, so there’s no way to organize getting the gravel to her house 45 miles away without some planning.
But when I called her, she suggested, “Well, 
why don’t you just have him drop the gravel behind the wall where you park your car to cover the gravel that’s already there? Then I can arrange to have it picked up from there.”
Such a simple and useful solution — one that might never have occurred to me because my mind was so focused on her taking the gravel for her yard.
Once my guy showed up, he was happy to dig up the gravel and drop it in the already-graveled area. Sure it raised the height of it, but the next day we were able to get it picked up and taken to my friend’s house as originally planned.
Has anything like this happened to you?
Have you focused on one way of getting something done, only to realize there was at last one other way which would work as well, maybe even better?