Problems

My little pond in my backyard is truly my sanctuary. I sit by it every morning and enjoy my coffee watching the fish and frogs and not thinking. In those moments of non-thought, I arrive at the most inspiring places. I crave and need my pond.

My pond broke. The little fountain stopped splashing and the ceramic frog started sputtering water. I sat with it for a few days willing it to fix itself, but came to conclude that the magical pond fairies would not be taking care of this one. I tackled the task of the cleaning the filter. No good. Clearly I needed a new pump. Now keep in mind, I did not install this pond myself. I know nothing of pond care or maintenance. Plumbing, however, cannot be that hard to figure out. It’s just a bunch of tubes.

New pump in hand, yoga pants rolled up, I dive in. The fish are not afraid of me. They spend the entire time nipping at my ankles. Midway through, my daughter craves a waterfall. It can’t be that hard. I reroute water flow from sputtering frog and gather huge quartz crystals I’ve accumulated. Instant waterfall.

Sitting back, covered in mud, soaking wet, deep gash in thumb from a rough cut quartz, I am pleased. I am also proud of myself. My personal mantra is “I’ve never met a problem I couldn’t fix”. I tell this to friends and kids and especially to myself. Some days I doubt my mantra and sit by my problems hoping magical fairies will fix them. I always end up diving in and fixing the problem myself.

Don’t ignore life’s issues. You were born with all the knowledge and power you will ever need to fix life’s problems. When faced with any challenge, look at it as an opportunity to learn. Rerouting one’s thoughts or heart is just like rerouting a sputtering ceramic frog and turning it into a magical crystal waterfall.