Steve Pavlina’s post today about how to solve problems was another good one. While there are some articles that I cannot relate to, as a rule of thumb, he generally hits the nail on the head most times for me. The personal growth articles (which are his main focus) are always spot on.
Today he talked about problems as opportunities. This is something I seriously attribute to an entire change of attitude in my life. It has taken time for me to reach this level, and I will probably never be 100% in this area, but I am very happy with my current achievements. Each time I am faced with a situation, it takes less and less time for me to take a frustrated or angry or upset feeling, and shift it to a motivated problem solving attitude. Reading his article reminded me how far I have come.
Take for example my health issues that have been such a large part of my life for the last say 15 years. I tell people now that I am seriously thankful for these problems, they have brought me to a level of understanding that I could have never acheived through any skills I had prior. My understanding of the human body, of the enviroment we live in, how our emotions and thoughts balance with our physical selves, and most of all, the opening of my mind to a more spiritual side would likely have never have occured without my ‘ailments’. I might have reached some level without them, but it would have taken much longer, and I do not believe it would have ever been at the level it is today.
I can take those physical and mental setbacks I have had, and I can pine over the things I did not enjoy in my 20’s, or the oppurtunities I let slip away at that time, but there is no changing them. It is 100% past, done, and gone. At this moment though, I am posed to accomplish anything I set my mind to. The confidence I have gained through battling my issues and overcoming obstacles is far more then I could have imagined a decade ago.
I still have moments, and I am still growing when it comes to remembering what problems truly represent in my life. Usually though when I take a step back and ponder what is frustrating me, I find that I am just looking at the issue through the wrong lens. While the problems may still be daunting, I have learned to take a deep breath, step back, make a plan, and then start moving forward bit by bit. I know that I can tackle anything if I break it into small enough chunks. As Steve uses the analogy, I just need to buck up and head to the gym to keep the lifting the weights and putting in the time. The outcome is a given if I do this, and the skills gained have always gone far beyond the singular issue I was trying to resolve.
Probably one issue that rises for me quite a bit, is the fact that as much progress I have made in my health and emotional balance, there are always small things that pop up. I tend to find myself getting frustrated with these issues, even though they are not near as bad as my past problems have been. When I step back and look at these frustrations, I realize that maybe there is a reason I am still having minor problems now and again. It is likely that I am not quite ready to move past this 100%. I still have learning to do, I still need to continue practicing and fine tuning my skills, and when I am truly ready, these small problems will stop creeping up. I just need to keep lifting the weights, and progress will be had, even if it is in small increments.
I appreciated the reminder Steve sent to help me stay on track. It was well timed with everything I am working on right now.
