Where did those books go? That’s what I’d really like to know. Last year, when I hadn’t been run over by the bus, I’d lost the books that I was holding. Somewhere between the bus almost hitting me and the bus disappearing as it went right through me, I’d dropped the books. I’m pretty sure that they dropped into one of the other layers of reality, but I haven’t been able to get back there again. Ever since the bus incident, I’d only gone into sublayers of reality, R1, R2, and R3, where I was only halfway between being in reality and being in one of the three layers of reality. I’d put myself in a bubble of the layer, but that bubble was still connected reality. I was pretty sure that the books had fallen and stayed outside of reality. I wanted to go there and see what it was like.
That’s what I’d been trying to do for the past three weeks and I’d failed at every attempt. Today, I’m sitting in a grassy clearing on a small hill beside a McKenzie Resources silver mine in Idaho and thinking about what I’d already tried and what I could do differently. It didn’t seem to be a power issue, as my field strength had increased dramatically over the past few months. My shield exercises, combined with all the scanning that I was doing, had already taken me to the point where I could hold the multiple fields required in my shield for over twenty minutes straight and I could do that every hour, until 4pm, without the need for a midday nap.
I also didn’t think that it was a control issue that was stopping me from being able to enter a layer. I could shift between the sublayers incredibly fast now and I could even put up the multiple fields required for my shield in an instant. Over the past few weeks of my trip with Mark, I’d even worked on changing the shape of the field, both when it surrounded my body and when I created it away from my body.
There had to be a technique, a way to get into the layer, that I hadn’t thought of yet, and the frustration was starting to get to me. I felt like Ralph in the 80’s tv show ‘The Greatest American Hero’. He was gifted with a costume that gave him superpowers, but he didn’t get the manual in how to use it. He couldn’t figure out how to fly and a little boy had to show him how the comic book superheroes launched themselves into the air. Then he had to figure out how to land. It wasn’t pretty. His flying technique also really sucked.
Uncle Magnum loved that show and we spent a week or two watching all the episodes. He used the show as a lesson in the importance of proper training and practice. His favorite saying was, “Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong!” I’d taken that lesson to heart, but in this case, I didn’t know what to practice. You can’t practice what you can’t do.
I heard my name and looked up to see Mark heading my way. He was out of breath by the time he reached me and a little sweaty. His 6’1” frame didn’t have much fat on it, but it also wasn’t bulging with muscles either. He was a healthy, good looking 21-year-old who spent too much time studying and not enough time keeping fit. I’d need to do something about that when we got back home.
“Hey Abby.”, he said as he sat down a few feet from me and tried to catch his breath. “The management presentation is done, and Karl wants to give us a tour of the mine. You ready for another trip underground?”
“Sure. That sounds good. I’m not getting anything accomplished just sitting here anyways.”, I said, putting on a happy face and trying to put away my frustration.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
As I got up to join him for the walk back to the mine’s administrative offices, I’d realized that I’d failed in hiding my feelings when Mark asked, “I’m not sure what you were looking to accomplish up on this hill, but if you need more time, then I can delay the meeting by an hour.”
“That’s nice of you to offer, but I don’t want to slow you down or keep your people from their work any longer than we need to. I’m just trying to figure something out. I’ll get it eventually.”
“Anything I can help with? Maybe I can offer a fresh perspective on whatever you’re trying to do”, he offered.
I started to say that I didn’t think anyone could help me, but then I changed my mind. I had an idea of how I could present my problem to him. “I’m trying to figure out a new magic trick where I disappear from one place and show up in another.”
“I’ve seen those. They usually use a trapdoor in the floor or find some way to conceal their movements. Don’t they have books on online with explanations of how it’s done?”
“There are lots of those, and I can do a variation of those tricks. I’m looking to do it in a new way.” I was about to go on, when Mark asked a question that cut to the heart of the matter.
“Why? If you can already do it one way, what do you gain by doing it another way?”.
Did I really need to get into another layer of reality? Wasn’t the ability to get into a bubble of that reality enough? What good would it do me to actually be in the layer?
“Is there only one way to mine?”, I asked him. “Since we started this trip, I’ve seen both surface mining and underground mining. You also have more options than just a pickaxe to mine with these days. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of tools that you can use. Each one is geared towards a specific purpose and situation. If I want to do my magic trick outdoors, then a trapdoor can’t be used, nor can a curtain or mirrors. Having another way to do the trick gives me more tools to use. Also, sometimes the solution to one problem will help you solve other problems in the future.”
“Ok. You have a good point. Since I know nothing about magic and how it’s done, then the only advice that I can give you relates to general problem-solving techniques. I learned about a few of those in some of my business courses at Galt.” We had almost reached the mining office, where Karl was waiting for us, and so Mark paused our walk to finish his thought, “There seems to be three things that you need think about when faced with a tough problem or question. One, are you asking the right question? What are you trying to accomplish? You need to look at your overall goal and define what your problem is. Make sure that you’re addressing the correct problem and make sure that you’re focusing on the root problem and not on what is caused by that problem. Sometimes visualizing what success looks like will help you see what your goals and your obstacle are.”
Mark held up two fingers and continued, “Two, what assumptions are you making. List them out. Which of them are you sure of? Which of them might be wrong? Sometimes a mistaken assumption can send you off in the wrong direction. Separate what you know to be true from what you think is true.”
Putting up his third finger, Mark finished, “Three, think outside the box. I’m sure that you’ve heard that one. Among other things, it means that you should look for solutions from other areas. Often there are tools or ideas that are used in other industries that solve your problem. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, you just need to find a new way of using it to solve your problem.” Mark finished and continued walking to the office.
“Wow. You just saved me a few years of university. Thanks Mark!”, I gushed at him.
He laughed and flipped me the finger as he opened the door for me. I blew him a kiss as I walked past him. I may have been flippant with Mark, but what he said made sense and I’d have to spend time thinking about it. Because he didn’t know my exact problem, he’d given me generalities and now it was up to me to apply them. First however, we were going on a tour of the mine with Karl.