The problem is not the problem.
The problem is your attitude about the problem.
Do you understand?
~ Captian Jack Sparrow
We all know them… those folks for whom every perceived problem is a catastrophe, an apocalypse, the end of the world as we know it. Sometimes we are them.
We also know the other kind (and strive to be more like them)… these are the folks for whom a problem is not a reason to have a tantrum or dive headlong into a pit of despair, but as a puzzle, a riddle, or a mystery to solve.
We all encounter problems, every day. Some are minor, some are major. Some are self-inflicted by ignorance or accident (cue me putting fuel from an unmarked gas can in my lawnmower last weekend only to realize — too late — it was mixed for use in a motorcycle). Some problems are created by other people and institutions with which we must engage (anyone spent time on hold with the IRS or tried to get an appointment with a specialist?) Other problems are just an inevitable part of the natural human experience, like things that wear out or break down over time.
I’m not entirely sure how we get ourselves snared in the mindset that we shouldn’t ever have any problems (the pervasive sense of entitlement that has infested our society is one possibility), but that mindset is a guaranteed one-way ticket to the land of disappointment, where we find melancholy, resentment, bitterness, frustration and rage.
As Cap’n Jack said, perhaps the problem is not the problem. Perhaps changing our attitude about the problem is the key to the solution we’re looking for. At the very least, an attitude shift toward problems may keep us from turning into miserable inhabitants of the land of disappointment.
By NIKI TURNER – editor@editorht1885.com
