Tonight, my middle child complained of a headache around dinner time, and it persisted until bedtime. I gave her medicine, to no effect. An ice pack did nothing. Cool water, rubbing the nape of her neck, a variety of other home remedies – nada. Nothing dried her tears to let her sleep. Out of ideas, I just curled up with her and snuggled.
And within ten seconds, she was out like a light, sleeping peacefully.
It was a good reminder of one of my biggest flaws.
Whenever there is an obstacle in your path, you have many choices. You can try to destroy the obstacle. You can choose another path. Or you can build a bridge over it.
I almost always do the first one. If pressed, I do the second. But bridges – things you build together – are harder to see when they aren’t there yet.
Sometimes though, you just have two people on opposite sides of an obstacle and all they need is to get together. Building the bridge is the very thing that makes the obstacle disappear.
Not everything has to be solved. Some things just need to be snuggled.
The Opportunity Machine 