I recently purchased a memory-foam pillow. Man, I love this pillow.* The only drawback is that once you’ve** rested your head on it for a while, it’s hard to move your head*** just a quarter inch to the right or left. Since the memory foam temporarily retains the placement of your head, a subtle shift leads your head to fall back into the original position. I struggled with that dilemma the first few nights I used the pillow, trying to move gradually but feeling like my head would lean back into the center. Then a lightbulb turned on in my head. Rather than trying to shift my head a quarter inch, I could just shift the pillow a quarter inch. Then my head would be in the perfect spot. Brilliant, isn’t it?****

I’m not sure why it took me so long to figure out that trick, but it did. Hmm, it sounds like many times when I’ve made tasks harder than they had to be because I was trying to change my circumstances with the wrong approach.

Lesson learned: Rather than trying to shift ourselves to fit into a mold, sometimes it’s best if we mold our circumstances to fit into our character.

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* Word to the wise: You’ll likely either really love memory-foam pillows or greatly dislike them. The people I’ve recommended them to have had mixed feelings; oddly, the women seem to like them more than the men. I’m not sure what to think about that non-scientifically-proven fact.
** Yes, I just changed the voice from the first person.

*** I’m using “head” frequently in this post. In fact, I’d say I overuse the word. But I’m doing it for clarity. That means you’ll hear it again in this post—several times. Please forgive me. Just know the overuse is in fact there—it’s not just in your head. ; )

**** Perhaps that insight should earn me a spot at the head of the class.