Tangled

     I’m always looking for props for  storytelling.  When I go to a thrift store, I always browse the toy aisle.   One day  I found a cat puppet.  Its strings were all tangled up.  I started to put it back, but then I thought, I can fix this.  And if I can’t, 75 cents isn’t too much to risk.

After I returned home, I examined the puppet.  The fine nylon threads were so tangled that I knew I would never be able to straighten them out.  Maybe I could cut the string to each foot and the head, untangle the threads and reattach them?  Then I noticed that little beads anchored the threads on the cross piece that was the controller for the puppet.  I used masking tape to mark each thread and its location on the controller so I could restring the puppet correctly.  I untangled the threads one at a time.  Soon I had a little cat puppet that could bob its head and dance.  Success!  75 cents for a puppet with tangled strings was a great investment! Now I needed to select a story to go with the cat.

My life is like that sometimes—all tangled up and full of confusion.  I begin to panic.  There seems to be no way that I can accomplish all that I need to do.  I feel overwhelmed. I think, Why did I allow myself to accumulate so many commitments? Sometimes the solution is to get a good night’s sleep and examine things in the morning.  More often, I need to make a list—get all my tasks and responsibilities down on paper.  The list gets longer and longer, and it is obvious that there is more to do than I could hope to accomplish in one day.  So, I slow down and look at each item one by one. I put a star by the things that are most important. I cross off the ones that I thought I ought to do but aren’t actually important.   I relegate the rest to be done on a later day. My emotions untangle and I am ready to have a successful day.  Slowing down was a good investment of time.