You’re Closer Than You Think

Several months ago I broke my left ankle and my left fibula.   Nursing my left leg back to health has been more challenging at times than I would like to admit.  Two or three weeks ago, I felt like I was making reverse progress and I was very, very frustrated.    One afternoon in bit of a temper tantrum over my reverse progress, I was crying, literally, to my husband who is an occupational therapist.  He patiently sat with me on the sofa and showed me what was causing my trouble.  I had a slight lack of range of motion in my ankle, and when I say slight, I mean slight, like a quarter of an inch.  A quarter of an inch was causing me a lot of pain and creating a serious limp.  When I realized it was only a quarter of an inch I immediately felt better.  I knew I could manage just that much.   I was a lot closer than I thought.  

It’s not unlike a lot of couples.   Often times, when it seems like things are seriously backfiring in a relationship, it’s not as serious as we think.  A small adjustment or tweak can make all the difference.  I recently worked with a couple who felt like their intimacy was gone.  They were willing to do anything to fix their marriage, but both were secretly afraid they couldn’t.  They obviously loved each other, but neither felt satisfied.  Six week of going to bed at the same time, and they both felt like they had turned a sharp corner and were feeling that loving feeling again.  I’m not saying going to bed at the same time is always the answer.  What I am saying is sometimes a small course correction yields big results.

You are usually closer to what you really want than you think, (tweetable).  The big hairy deal, usually isn’t that big at all, especially when you are willing to entertain the thought that it might be easier than you imagine.