problem solving

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. For the past few weeks I've been really concerned about something …. I thought I had a case of dandruff! :( It seemed like every time I looked over my left shoulder I had little white specks that I'd quickly brush away. I tried a new shampoo. I tried brushing more to "exfoliate" as recommended by my hair dresser. But whenever I looked over there were the little specks.

Saturday night I went for a long walk in the rain to clear my thoughts. On my way home I stopped off at the local bookstore to browse. Took my coat off inside, and sure enough, little white specks on my left shoulder. Something made me wonder, why always my left shoulder? And why so much when I took off my coat. So I did some investigating. Looked inside my coat. Sure enough, 4 years of heavy Pacific Northwest rainy winters had worn the coat out. The (white) liner inside the left shoulder area was disintegrating. THAT was the source of the white specks.

I now have a new coat thanks to a Sunday sale at the outlet. I spent a little more than I would have normally to buy a coat with a removable liner that will work for the colder New Jersey winter when I'm in novitiate next year (God willing). More expensive than dandruff shampoo, but problem (hopefully) solved.

But there's a moral to this story. Just because you think you know what the problem is, doesn't mean that you know what the problem is.