Passage 95 Searching for a Win-Win Solution
Recently I have had a dilemma I'm trying to resolve, a weekend in the near future
where I have conflicting demands and values, and need to be in two places at the same time.
I have agonized over this decision because my intuition is not giving me a clear answer
and I haven't felt that there was a win-win solution.
If I do one thing, I'm letting down a bunch of people.
If I do the other, I'm also missing the mark.
Either way I feel like a loser, not a winner.
This morning I got an e-mail that directly addresses this dilemma:
A Thinking Test
You are driving along on a wild, stormy night.
You pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for the bus:
1. An old lady who is sick and about to die.
2. An old friend who once saved your life.
3. The perfect man or woman you have been dreaming about.
Which one would you choose to pick up, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car?
The candidate who was hired simply answered:
"I would give the car keys to my old friend, and let him take the lady to the hospital.
I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the woman of my dreams."
Sometimes, we gain more if we are able to
give up our stubborn thought limitations and think outside the box.
If, like me, you are looking at a decision that makes you feel forced to choose between plan A or plan B,
and neither plan by itself seems like the right decision,
stretch your mind to consider plans C or D,
to a third option that solves the problem in a whole new way.
Believe that there is a solution you haven't yet thought of,
which will enable you to feel good about your choice, and then search for what it is.
You are not always the victim in life;
most of the time you are the victor looking at the situation from the wrong view!
The view is yours to choose.