NOT a problem

“You don’t have a problem… you have OPTIONS!”

That’s what my Mom said when I went to her with a “serious” life decision.

I was 16, and just ready to start dating, but I had, what I thought, was a real problem.

Theresa and Sydney, both beautiful, both sweet, both seemingly interested in me. What should I do? Who should I date?

My Mom had noticed a change in me. Something “serious” was on my mind.

She sat me down and asked, “What’s going on, Kyle. You seem different.”

“I have a problem, I don’t know what to do?” Then I laid out all the ghastly details.

That’s when she said it.

“You don’t have a problem… you have OPTIONS!”

She continued. “There’s a guy I work with who is in his 40’s, never been married, not too great looking and with a challenging personality. He can’t get anybody to date him and he can’t figure out why. THAT’S a problem. YOU don’t have a problem… YOU… have options.”

She was right then… and she was right so many times after… even though I never heard her say it to me again.

It became a way I looked at many problems… I mean, OPTIONS, in my life and changed my approach to how I handled difficulties.

“What are my options”, I’d ask myself when things got tricky. Instead of being “stuck” in a problem and not knowing what to do, I was now asking a question that demanded “thought” and “action.”

“What are my options?”

It’s an interesting way to look at problems, isn’t it?

So, here’s the question. WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS?

Anytime we have what we believe to be problems, can we ask this question? Because there’s ALWAYS something we can do… IF… we’re willing to “think” and “take action.”

Thanks, Mom. No one loves you like your Mom. No one CAN love you like your Mom.