An empty bean bag, a 99 cent bag of pinto beans, and a stapler.
Problem solved!
I feel like we so often try to come up with complicated ways to solve simple problems. We overthink and stress and worry about how we will ever figure them out.
I'm guilty of this too.
Especially at work, or when it comes to my kids. Which is pretty much my whole life between those two things.
But also about the silly little problems we have.
I was out shopping yesterday, picking up Halloween decorations and miscellaneous stuff that I needed for the house.
We were having company over and I was thinking about putting out the bean bag toss game for one last time before it gets too cold to play any more this year.
Then I remembered that one of the bean bags had gotten a hole in it and all of the beans had fallen out. So we were short a bean bag.
My brain started its problem-solving process.
I need to buy a new bean bag! So, I headed toward sporting goods.
$40 for a set of bean bags! Yikes! I only paid $5 for the entire game, including the boards, at a garage sale.
Better just wait and go home and check Amazon - I'm sure they have something cheaper.
Bummer...that means that we can't play bags tonight though!
Maybe I could borrow some from someone? Who has a set that lives close enough?
And it swirled on with thoughts of how to solve that problem.
I moved on to the grocery section at the store so I could pick up a few things we needed for dinner.
In the soup aisle, the solution to my problem literally stared me in the face. Bags of dry beans called out to me.
Why not just fix the bean bag myself? For less than a dollar?
But wait...I don't sew (I could but I literally hate doing it). How will I keep the beans from falling out?
You know how people say duct tape can fix almost anything?
For me, I use my stapler.
I've fixed a torn seam on the back of a skirt, a hole in my couch, and a pocket in my coat with my tried and true stapler.
So, a 99 cent bag of pinto beans went into my cart and came home with me.
Jacob helped me fill up the bean bag and we compared to a full one to make sure it was a similar weight.
Then I stapled it securely shut.
I have to say I felt pretty accomplished for fixing that problem and spending so little money.
I even have beans left that I can cook and feed my kids (if I can get them to even eat pinto beans).
Yes, I realize that this particular "problem" is really not a problem at all in the grand scheme of life.
Honestly, I'm grateful that I even have a bean bag set and 99 cents that I can spare on a bag of pinto beans.
But being open to simple, no nonsense, maybe not so main-stream ways of solving problems applies well beyond a fix for a yard game.
Look for ways to be creative and use things that cost very little or that you already have easily available.
Including the non-tangible ones that cost no money at all.
Give a few more hugs.
Breathe a little more deeply.
Forgive a little more often.
Walk a mile in their shoes.
Live a little more simply.
And if you're really struggling with a hole in your life that you just can't seem to close, maybe a figurative stapler could help you after all.
Can you fill that hole with a new hobby that gives you purpose, a visit with a friend who makes you feel confident, a night sharing memories of that person you are missing?
Fill it up until that hole is as full as it can be and you can't feel that emptiness anymore.
Then staple it securely shut and move on as best you can.
Life is hard.
This perfectly imperfect world we live in is filled with problems (both insignificant and really tough ones).
Lean on each other, get creative and find ways to work through them.
And always carry your stapler!