WHO'S FAULT IS IT?

New York may be the city that doesn't sleep, but it was certainly brought to a crawl during last week's weather. The early snowfall took everyone by surprise. None of the meteorologists, with all their cutting edge, state of the art equipment, predicted the intensity or accumulation. And it crippled my fair city in a way that most have not seen in their lifetimes, myself included. Bridges were shut down, accidents abounded, cars/busses/trucks stuck. There are enough horror stories to fill a book about how long it took to go 5 miles.

Friday, most of the snow was gone. And we were left with puddles, downed tree branches, and a lot of finger-pointing. How could this have happened?

People were demanding explanations, demanding apologies. Why were they (the collective "powers that be") not prepared?

We were inconvenienced and wanted someone to blame. For the weather. That took everyone by surprise. The fact of the matter was that we were not prepared. It was unexpected - a series of unfortunate events.

When the unexpected happens, the tendency is to want to blame someone. Whether it's being unprepared for a snow storm or a minor or major mishap along the path of life.

Somebody did or didn't do something.

I offer an alternative. Take control. Ask the questions, "Could I have done something differently?", and, "What can I do to prevent this from happening again?"

Model this behavior for your kids. Make this your go-to reaction. Accepting and practicing this problem-solving behaviour will serve everyone well. And put you (and yours) ahead of the curve.

#personalresponsibility #resiliency #SNOW #confidenceresiilienceyproblemsolving #problems #attitude