What's the Work-Around?

There are times that a certain thing gets used for an unintended (but effective!) purpose: things like the ubiquitous cookie tin that becomes the sewing kit; or the stack of books that becomes the computer riser.

These aren’t wrong; they’re a work-around.

Finding workarounds in other aspects of life is common; we’re faced with opportunities to view things from a different vantage point, to consider alternatives approaches to a task, and consider what other avenues we might go down.

For some, however, they see the world with rigid or unmovable stance: we do things the way we do things, and that’s that… if you need a sewing tin, you buy a sewing tin (and not enjoy the cookies); if you need a computer riser then your books stay on the shelf, etc. This can backfire if a new purchase is not viable, or a product is unavailable. Thus, function is impeded.

Similarly, to try and go forward without respecting the framework can also lead to increased challenges. We need to have certain parameters for our lives, especially when we interact with each other. There can be a benefit of flexibility, but without communication and agreement, a lack of structure leads to a mess.

Hence: the work-around. Life presents us with enough challenges that often we need to find an alternate way of moving forward. It’s finding a solution to a minor hiccup that will respect the boundaries, allowing for creative re-thinking of the circumstance.

The work-around is never meant to reject or ignore the established parameters or rules, but to be open to new and different ways of using the gifts that we have.

As people who are called to love other people, the workaround gives us the chance to help others, the make things better for them, without causing any harm to us. Maybe it’s as easy as adjusting a schedule, or re-formatting a meeting to be accessible through technology. It can be asking for help, or extending timelines.

Some of the work-arounds we find are from a creative idea; others are from necessity (like diminished budgets or changed staffing) One of the things COVID taught us was that we do have the ability to be flexible, and to find a workaround; it wasn’t easy, nor preferable, and often it wasn’t successful; but we did what we did, all of us, to do our best.

I wonder what what could happen if we commit to that spirit of solution-finding this week; to seeking ways to connect, to assist, to overcome the obstacles in our lives, that we might live the full life that God wants us to.
What’s your workaround?