Image: Flickr/Ed Schipul

“A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.” (Dutch Proverb)

No matter where ScreamFree goes, there seems to be a pattern. At the start of our time, people all hope that we’ll tell them exactly how to handle every possible situation in their homes or at their workplace. The impulse is understandable — perhaps even noble. They want to do what is right and best for their kids, their spouses, and their co-workers.

The trouble is, we can’t do what they think they want us to do. There’s no silver bullet when it comes to parenting or marriage or jobs. There’s no magic incantation, potion, or pill. Life doesn’t work that way.

The good news is that you already have everything you need to be a great parent or spouse or office mate. You may not know it yet, but you have it.

Techniques “work” for a while, but most people are smart enough to figure out they’re being “handled”. ScreamFree is about relationships — about taking a handful of patience and using it in the most difficult of circumstances to create a pause. A pause in the right place (between someone or something pushing your buttons and your reaction) will go a really long way toward the relationships you desire most. That’ll beat a bushel of tips and techniques any day.