It never ceases to amaze me how little incidents that occur in my life often have the ability to shed important insights into dealing with various life issues.

In the front window of our Urbandale, Iowa home we have a shade known as a silhouette that allows us three forms of light control:

• When pulled completely up it allows full view of the outside and allows beautiful warm sunshine or street lights to enter the room.

• When pulled down but not ‘closed,’ the space between portions of the shade covered by a veneer cloth gives a modicum of privacy but allows some outside sunshine or artificial evening light in

• When down and fully closed—we are given 100% privacy

We very much like this particular piece of window treatment but it has one slight drawback. Because it is spread across a wide window area, the shade is fairly difficult to raise up in the morning due to its weight. The silhouette is run by a pulley system using a strong chord.

Early on I thought I was doing the chord a favor by pulling down on one side while simultaneously lifting up on the other.

Bad move on my part.

By lifting up I caused the chord to slip. Eventually, even though I quit doing that, there was not enough tension on the pulley to lift the shade and we had to have it replaced.

The lesson that I learned from that situation is that sometimes we need to appreciate and respect the problems, issues and challenges (read ‘tension’) that occur in our daily lives. I am now convinced that—when properly used and appreciated—they can be tools to help us achieve success in our various ventures.

Too much tension can paralyze and even kill. The right amount, however, can provide the exact degree of focus and enthusiasm to overcome difficult occurrences in our personal and professional lives.

Bill Sheridan

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