Just sitting with it …

Okay, this is what happened:

I have this looooooong leash for Sherman (my dog – not my spouse! – in case you were wondering 😉). And that leash had a snap hook that looked like this:

However, the hook’s lever to move the bolt broke:

That made it pretty much impossible to use – unless you enjoy cutting your finger every time you push down the lever. Then, of course, it is absolutely perfect …

Anyhow, I figured, why not repair the leash instead of buying a new one?

But how?

For the life of me I could not come up with any ideas. So much so, that I ended up with a mind completely devoid of any thought – even unhelpful ones. Instead I just sat there, on my chair with the leash in my hand, staring at the hook.

And then, all of a sudden, my mind came alive again and an idea popped up:

How about if I check to see if I have another hook somewhere?

So, I searched the drawers and the toolbox. And guess what? I found one! It wasn’t brand new, but it was still functional.

“Great!” I thought. “One down!” 😃

Now I just had to move the leash from one hook to the other. Unfortunately, there was no way to untie it from the broken hook. But cutting it off so I could attach it to the new hook seemed like such a crude approach.

So, I sat some more. Just staring at the old, broken hook and the new, whole one.

Again, my mind was pretty silent in the process. Normally it is yapping away like a Yorkie in the pink of health. But not while I was focusing on the hooks.

And then another idea popped up:

Instead of cutting the rope, I could cut the broken hook where the rope is attached!

Awesome idea.

But what can I use to cut the metal? 🤔 Kitchen scissors won’t cut it – in every sense of the word.

And even if I free the rope, how do I attach it to the new hook?!? 😳

To make a long story short, after sitting in silence some more, I came up with the idea to use a heavy duty pruning tool I found in the shed. That did the trick:

Then I used a key ring to connect the rope with the new hook:

I know, all this might sound rather trivial.

“She repaired the leash. Yawn … 🥱 So what?!”

But here’s the thing:

What gets me all excited about this is that I always believed problem solving requires a lot of thinking. And yet, when I was looking for a solution to repair the leash, I wasn’t thinking much at all! To the contrary. I was mainly sitting.
And looking.
And focusing.
And waiting.

What gets me even more excited is that this has happened to me before! Frankly, I don’t remember ever finding answers to problems by reacting all flustered, anxious, and dreading the cards that I’ve been dealt. Instead, solutions (or rather, viable solutions) only showed up when I was sitting in silence and at peace with the situation that presented itself, patiently waiting for whatever idea or relief would present itself.

And so, now I am wondering if this story about a trivial problem could serve as a model for problem solving in general – especially when it pertains to seemingly overwhelming situations. What if, no matter how big the challenge, all it takes is being very quiet, resting in a state of thoughtless awareness, so a solution or help can show up?

Brigitte Schneider
aka Ms. Shhhh

Copyright © 2021, Brigitte Schneider. If you wish to quote text from this article contact the author by leaving a comment.