One time when she was swimming back to the side of the pool and was less than a foot away, she panicked.  Her arms went frantically up in the air, and she started to sink.  Her smile faded to a frightened look, and the instructor quickly grabbed her as she was going under water.  I overheard Catherine, her swimming teacher, asking Olivia why she didn’t reach out to grab the side of the pool, as it was in arm’s reach, instead of giving up and panicking.  Olivia’s safety was within her grasp.   

     How many times do we panic or give up searching for the answer when it is within our reach or staring us in the face?  Does the saying, “If it were a snake, it would have bitten me” ring a bell?  Sometimes, we cause many waves and unneeded noise that we don’t see the answer that is right in front of us and within our reach.  We make issues more complicated than they are or need to be.