Tom and Kathy took their kids, Joey (15), Katie (13) and Tommy (10) on vacation to the Grand Canyon. The family hiked to the bottom of the canyon to Phantom Ranch where they planned to enjoy park ranger talks and sleeping under the stars; no cabins for this group!

On the first night, under those shining stars, they listened to Ranger Becky talk about the canyon. It was great -- until she came to the part about SCORPIONS! Tom said "at once, my daughter Katie was ablaze with questions:

· How many scorpions are there?
· How do they find food?
· Where, exactly, are they?
· How often are people stung?
· What happens to you if you get stung? ... clearly she was scared!"

Ranger Becky handed out infrared lights, and the assembled guests went out to find LOTS of SCORPIONS! And Tom's daughter, Katie, was more definite that she would NOT, could NOT sleep out.

Well, the family talked and came up with an ingenious plan that allowed them all to sleep under the stars after all. They created A SCORPION- FREE ZONE! The two boys & parents arranged their sleeping bags in a square, with sister in the middle. The space inside their square was deemed a SCORPION-FREE ZONE -- a term that is now used whenever one of the family can call the others for help when they are stumped or scared.

In the face of too much information it's important to stay focused on your Safety Net®.

Tip: Think ahead of time about whom you'll turn to if you are stumped or scared. Let them know you value and count on them. If there's too much information in front of you or there are too many demands coming your way, it's just like having too many scorpions. So create your own Scorpion-Free Zone. Then, when that time does come - because it will:

· Call upon your Personal Safety Net of people
· Identify the issue as clearly as possible
· Use the power of Collective IQ to come up with possibilities
· Acknowledge, use, and appreciate the skills of each member
· Keep reaching out to each other

And create your own Scorpion-Free Zone!