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Are we navigating hurricanes, or trying to manage a storm in a teacup?
What to do if a storm in a teacup looks like a hurricane?
I spoke with a friend in the week who was caught up with a problem at work. Should she do x, or y, or maybe x would make them think z and so maybe she should really do w, but what if… and so we went on.
At some point it became clear that she wished she had made a different decision in the past and her present dilemma was as much about trying to solve her feelings of embarrassment (ideally by turning back the clock!) as it was about extricating herself gracefully from the situation she was in now.
It reminded me of an incident with my husband the previous weekend, which I related to my friend,
I need your advice,
he’d said,
I’m in a pickle. I’ve double booked myself and I don’t know how to get out of it.
He looked forlorn, and serious, and so, I took him seriously.
I encouraged him to tell me more and it turned out he’d got into a bit of a mess with upcoming travel plans. He’d arranged a taxi to collect him from flight #1 and bring him home (a two-hour trip), only to have also booked a second taxi to take him back to the airport for flight #2 within…
