What is your pain?

I was on a flight back last week from Seattle and had a great conversation with my seat mate. Those of you who know me well may think I would normally “chat it up” with a passenger, but truthfully I am the one to throw on the headphones (even if I don’t have anything on) and try to relax and think and maybe even take a nap! Not really a big fan of plane conversation. Anyway, I’d been flying all week and this was one of the last legs, and she was really great. We got to talking about how we are currently in the process of selling our home, and I was sharing with her the inspection report and subsequent negotiations. In short, the new owners want to take a bit more out off of the price to deal with some minor issues and that I didn’t really think was fair, but also didn’t want to upset the apple cart so to speak and ruin the deal. Her response was great and WORTH SHARING.

“SO, WHAT IS YOUR PAIN….?”

I didn’t get it right away, but ultimately it was PURE BRILLIANCE. We all have our own pain points. How much pain are we willing to endure…to experience?  It can be emotional or physical dollars as in this case. It can be both of course. I had to think through this with her. In this case, if the deal fell through because I didn’t concede, I would be out perhaps a couple or more months of a mortgage payment, on top of my new payments relating to the move etc. Once I thought of it that way, their ask didn’t seem too much and would quickly add up to the amount they were asking for.  Decision made. Once I realized the amount of what my pain could be, it wasn’t hard.  (Side note: Why in the world had I never thought of this process?)

Some after thoughts I had or other possible scenarios…

What if you have someone at work that is a challenge… What is your pain? What happens if you address it or not?

What if you need to make a big purchase, a new refrigerator, or something expensive… What is your pain if you do or don’t do it now? It may help you to understand if you just can’t tolerate the pain level, you may need to consider other options, perhaps a Craigslist fridge for now….?

What if you have a friend or relative that is about to make a bad decision… What is their pain? Can you help them out by using this as a problem solving mechanism to frame up the real issues they may have based on their choices?

I hope this resonates with some of you all!  I thought it was a tremendous insight and worth the time to think on for a bit… I will be using this now when confronted with a decision.

(Photo Creds:  I’m not sure…It’s been on my “reel” for awhile..)