Move Forward Solution

I have been sharing for the past few weeks about a difficult decision that I have had to make. I made the decision to send my daughter to preschool. She is a bit young, but she really seemed ready so I signed her up. She has had some difficulty with separation anxiety. I had to decide whether to push through it and keep her in school or admit that she wasn't quite ready and pull her out. I decided to keep her in for three reasons.

1. I knew logically that it would be good for her to go and that she actually enjoyed school and was probably putting on a bit of a show for mom to see if she could get her way.
2. I knew emotionally that I needed the few hours break that preschool would provide to pursue a writing and speaking career that would be quite fulfilling and take the pressure off of my husband and kids to be my sole source of existence.
3. I knew instinctively that she was ready and it was the right thing to do for the entire family.

It was a decision that was confirmed in my head, heart, and core. I call these kind of solutions Move Forward Solutions. A Move Forward Solution is a solution to a problem that is confirmed in all three areas. Finding a solution that agrees with your head, heart, and core will greatly increase your chances of having a solution that actually works.

Shadow Solutions agree with only one or two of these areas and are often the simple solutions that we settle for because we believe that these solutions will be "good enough." We often find ourselves struggling with the same problem over and over because these Shadow Solutions don't actually solve the problem but merely act as a band-aid that will slow the bleeding for a time. But as all band-aids do, these solutions eventually fall away and we are left with the same problems.

When you commit to finding a Move Forward Solution, one that is confirmed in your head, heart, and core, you can be almost sure that it will work. When you find that you have an answer that is logically, emotionally, and instinctively confirmed, you can Know that you Know that you Know you have found the solution to your problem.

The next time you face a difficult problem in your life, don't settle for the Shadow Solution; fight to find the Move Forward Solution. You won't be sorry you did.