All of us have a friend who has the ability to cut through all the stuff, without pretense, and say what really needs to be said. And without pouting and whining we not only hear what is being said, but we really listen. Deb does that for me.

The other day I caught myself mentally complaining about being worn down. “Why does everything have to be so challenging? If just one thing could be simple…” These two thoughts wouldn’t leave me alone. So, I called my friend who refuses to come to my pity parties.

I thought I might get an “Aww” or “You poor thing” out of her this time, but nope. After patiently listening to my soap opera she said something that made so much sense.

“I don’t mean to sound strange or Zen-like, but have you ever watched running water in a stream?” she asked me. “When it comes up against a rock what does it do?”

“It goes around it,” I answered. “It takes a different path.”

“If water does that, why can’t you?” she said. “Don’t keep pushing on your obstacles, find a way to go around them.”

I thought about water for the rest of the day. The human body is 55-75% water depending of the size of the person. So I should be able to act like water. Water may look smart, but God gave us the ability to reason and re-route. Our pastor once said, “Doing the same thing over and over expecting different results is called insanity.” No wonder the frustration! Recalculating instead of pushing just might work.