Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Thinking Outside The Box

As I have mentioned in several blogs, I am a runner and try to run at least twice a week as my schedule permits.  I do this for a couple of reasons.  First of all, it's a great time to clear my mind and pray over matters.  In addition, running keeps me from gaining a lot of weight.  Not that I lose weight, mind you.  I just feel like I don't gain a lot of weight when I consistently run.  Furthermore, by running, I don't feel quite as guilty when I frequent fast food restaurants as is my habit.

One place I visit on occasion is the local hot dog eatery.  I like my hot dogs "all the way" with sauerkraut, onions and special sauce.  On the other hand, my wife is much more picky about her selection in that she wants the hot dogs without onions.  So, when I order, I usually mention I want at least one of the dogs without onions.  But, when I get home, this is where the fun begins.  Sometimes the eatery marks the wrapper a special way to show that the hot dog is without onions.  On other occasions, there is no mention on the wrapper.  So, I have to sort through the dogs to find the ones without onions.  This takes time and is sometimes difficult to find the onions (or lack of them) on the hot dogs.  

Then, one day, it dawned on me, there was a simple way to rectify this problem. So what did I do?  I began ordering all the hot dogs without onions.  That way, I didn't have to search through the hot dogs plus I didn't run the risk of being fussed at by my wife if there were onions involved.  Easy solution.

Sometimes in life it is advantageous to think outside the box, that is, to look for easy solutions for problems.  For example, I read about a lady who had extreme nausea with her chemotherapy treatments in the afternoons.  So, what did she do?  She set her alarm clock to wake her up around 3AM and ate a huge breakfast so nausea wouldn't be a problem later in the day.  Great idea!  There is absolutely no law that you have to wait until 7 or 8 a.m. to eat breakfast.  Hence, she was able to eat well and not worry about nausea during the day.  She was thinking outside the box.

I also heard about a man whose doctor told him he needed to drink 8 glasses of water a day, sometimes a difficult request.  What did he do?  When he got up in the morning, he drank 8 glasses of water back to back.  Kind of unusual, but yet, there is no rule that you can't drink the beverages all at one time.  He was thinking outside the box.

So, when facing difficulties or unusual problems, don't give up.  There may be a way you can accomplish a task by thinking outside the box.  Be creative.  It may not be as hard as you think.