Before Panic Set In....

All day long I kept thinking that something was wrong. Actually, at different points over the past few weeks I suspected a problem with our pool. When we moved into our new house this spring, we were blessed with a beautiful pool. On this particular day, it was not feeling like a blessing. I woke up to notice the water level was very low. I immediately pulled the hose out of the garage and started filling the pool in the frigid cold.A few weeks earlier the same scenario had happened and I filled the pool for several hours to get it back within the right water level. The first time it seemed like a fluke. The second time I remember discussing dew point, humidity, and evaporation rates over dinner. “Does a pool really lose that much water during colder temperatures?” we pondered. Then there would be a few days where everything seemed just fine and I justified all was well. I even went on line and googled how to do a water level test. No red flag.Now, as daylight was turning to dusk and the pool was still not showing any effect of a hose running all day, I began to panic. At the rate we were losing water, our pump could lose its prime during the night even when I was filling it. I am imagining our water bill and the cost of a dead pump.At 4pm, I called a friend who works on pools. No answer. I call a company that has come out previously with our home warranty. He answers but needs to call me back. I wait and wait. No return call. I call my last hope. Finally… an answer. As the sun is diving out of sight, I am outside learning how to check and see if water is draining through some trap that connects our pool backwash to the sewer system.As my nose is losing feeling and I am losing patience, it dawns on me that this is such a picture of how we deal with so many issues in our lives. We ignore the first signs. We explain away the second sign. We try to diagnose the problem ourselves and don’t want to trouble anyone with something that “surely isn’t a big deal.” We wait so long that what could be handled with minor disruption becomes a crisis.Is it your marriage? Is a simple misunderstanding growing into a barrier with a co-worker or friend? Do you have a bad feeling about some unusual behavior of your teen? I urge each of us to avoid the crisis that can be created by our unwillingness to acknowledge that something is not right. It is always better to address a problem proactively. Even if you are overreacting, the ramifications are usually invisible, especially compared to overlooking a growing problem.Tomorrow, I am hoping the pool mystery will be resolved. One thing is for sure, next time I want to acknowledge the concern on the front end and get the help I need before the panic sets in. What panic do you need to avoid?