My husband dislikes the "million dollar question". It usually comes up when I have requested that something be done to improve our home. He, a builder, authoritatively declares, "IT CAN'T BE DONE!!" As a undauntable idealist who has complete faith in the achieve-ability of good goals, I calmly question, "If someone offered you a million dollars to do this, could you?" After a slight pause, he concedes, "Yes". I respond that it is then not a matter of impossibility, but of motivation, and I am motivated. After that, we work together to achieve the goal. Actually, now after being married to me for 46 years, my husband knows that if I say something can be done-- it can. He skips the fight phase and simply goes straight into "working it out" mode.
