Today, I am reminded of something that I saw while flipping channels a few weeks ago. I think it was an episode of “Wife Swap”. When I flipped through, a young girl was praying for the “substitute” Mom. Her prayer was simply this – that she remain “teachable”.

That’s my prayer today – that I remain “teachable”.

That prayer/TV episode came to me as I was asking myself questions about certain situations in my life. I realized in that moment of asking that I, “the queen of powerful questions”, was asking wrong question. Well…not so much the “wrong” question but more importantly – the RIGHT question but in the WRONG way.

The way I was framing the question led to struggle and conflict being part of the resolution no matter how many different ways I came at it. Definitely not where I want to go. While I believe that conflict and struggle MAY be necessary in some cases, I recognized the struggle/conflict that I was brewing was part and parcel of my very own “private label”. LOL

Yes, I do have a small “factory” in my head that manufactures conflict where there is none, struggle where it’s not needed and drama as if it was some fabulous must-have accessory. I’m trying to shut the factory down completely. I’m making steady reductions in the amount of ‘products’ I manufacture daily so I know I’m heading in the right direction. I don’t know if today’s ‘special order’ was from a backlog or my head didn’t get the memo that we’re not taking any new orders.

And now here I am, praying this simple prayer – “Help me remain teachable.”

My quick breakthrough was simply this, instead of asking “How do I make them see that I’m right?!” (not exactly how I was wording it but once you boiled it down to the bone, that’s really what I was asking. LOL) – I asked the question this way, “How do we turn this around?”

Reframing it might not make the question different to anybody else but it does for me. In the first instance, I’ve taken the stance that I’m right, others need to acquiesce to that fact and do it my way. That kind of logic will keep me stuck. The second instance allows for “peaceful coexistence”. It shows that I’m open to hearing what others say, to collaborating, and making it win-win for everybody. This kind of logic gets us all moving AND…in a unified direction.

Ahhhhh….harmony is restored.