There’s nothing like a good word puzzle to exercise the muscles in our tiny little brain cells. I particularly enjoy word searches.
Once in a while, I think I’ve found a particular word on the search list, only to find when I look more closely that it is all the right letters but in the wrong order.
As they say in horseshoes, “Close, but no cigar.” Eventually I find the correct lineup and circle it with a flourish … (What? That’s not what they say in horseshoes? Ok, catch me up later. Thanks! )
As I was saying, charting a course can sometimes feel like you’re in the middle of a life-size word search puzzle.
- What’s on the list?
- I’m looking!
- Where is it?
- I can’t find it.
- Which direction is it pointed?
- Backwards, upside-down, or diagonal??
- Found it!
Charting the course of transition is not always easy, but it need not be hair-pulling difficult either. I hold a special fondness for coaching individuals in transition. Two heads are better than one; sometimes this head just needs to listen well and ask the right questions for forward movement with clarity to kick in.
Coaches don’t have a crystal ball or wave a magic wand. It is good to remember that there are some things that only time will reveal. But I’m willing to guess that you hold in your hands some key pieces that, looked at more closely, will fit together in a budding framework that begins to lay out next steps.
You may have a lot of right letters, only to find that sometimes an endeavor or transition plan really does come out better if you don’t put them together in the wrong order. Many an undertaking has gone awry because of putting the proverbial cart before the horse.
Rather like searching for words that you know are there – hiding in plain sight – it’s tempting to toss down the pencil and the puzzle book and take a break. That’s ok, as long as you get back to the horseshoe pit and continue working on your aim.
If you’re already on or charting a course of transition, that pony is going to keep on trotting out in front of you every day that goes by. But, he needs your help in placing the right letters in the right order to guide the direction he’s headed. Otherwise, the route might land you off in the hinterlands.
And if the pony’s owner (that’s you ) needs help in sorting out the letters, getting or staying aimed in the right direction – give me a whistle!
(What’s that? Oh, right…) “Close” only counts in horseshoes. 🙂
~ Nancy
Is not this the God who armed me well, then aimed me in the right direction? II Samuel 22:33 MSG
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