If You Think You Have A Problem, Then You Really Have A Problem
Life can play many tricks on us. Unfortunately, things are not going the way we would like. Problems are popping up on all sides… Or maybe not? Basically, what is a problem? Do we have that many problems or are we just making our lives difficult by thinking about what we are missing?
In reality, it is our attitude that determines whether we really have a problem. It also determines its magnitude. Tell yourself that it is our judgment of facts that really makes us turn circumstances into problems, and that it is this same judgment that turns a challenge into a threat.
In this sense, accepting circumstances allows us to see them as opportunities to learn and grow. Acceptance is a way of giving a solution to adverse situations, of adapting and of renewing ourselves when there is no other possibility of intervention or when choosing another requires that we pay a high price for it.
Adversity, an opportunity
Whether we like it or not, whether we like it or not, whether we are ready or not, problems will fall in our path. Many questions will arise, but the most important of them will be: what are we going to do? How are we going to incorporate this into our lives? In other words, are you going to let adversity turn into a problem or are you going to turn this new circumstance into an opportunity to learn and grow?
The initial pain and concern is normal and natural. It is even healthy to give the pain time to do its job. Resisting it is only one way of prolonging the agony. Pain is a natural feeling that must be given space. It’s when the emotional pain passes that you really have to deal with the new situation.
Even though life can get enormously complicated, adversities can turn into great opportunities to know ourselves better, to appreciate what we have, to appreciate ourselves. Adopting this point of view does not change what happened, it will not give us a solution, but it will give us the opportunity to find out. And this is a wonderful activity.
“Adversity has the gift of awakening talents which, in prosperity, would have remained asleep.”
-Horace-
Acceptance and adaptation to change in the face of the problem
Learning to adapt to new circumstances, however complicated they may be, is the secret to a fulfilled and happy life. It sounds difficult, but it really is possible. However, adaptation alone is not enough: we must also be able to accept what happens to us. In any case, this acceptance is the start of change, whether internal or taking place in our surroundings.
Adapting does not mean overcoming adversity; it only helps to take some of the control, the control of oneself. At the end of the day, as Bernabé Tierno said, you can face everything but you can’t overcome everything. Only acceptance will allow us to achieve real adaptation and benefit from it until the last second of our life.
“The life of every person, and in particular our own, must be full of acceptance, adaptation and constant renewal”.
-Bernabé Tierno-
Learn to put up with what you can’t change
Happy is the one who learns to endure what they cannot change, said Friedrich Schiller. And it is true: as difficult as change is, as hard as adversity is, learning to face it, to accept it and to adapt to new circumstances is, in the majority of cases, the only way to keep moving forward. To go for the rest of the alternatives, we would have to pay a price that we cannot afford. It may also be that there are simply no other alternatives.
As we learn to accept change and adapt to new circumstances, we will face further transformations, for life is like this: pure dynamics. In these cases, our first reaction may be to flee or to fight. These are innate survival instincts that turn into very powerful motivators when we feel threatened.
When we are able to mentally adapt to a situation, no matter how harsh it is, then we start looking for how we can adjust to the new reality. A person who can accept change and adapt to their new situation is someone who is able to direct their mind in new directions and make decisions in relation to their new reality and new goals.
Instead of suffering for what you don’t have, enjoy what you have
You really have a problem if you allow yourself to be overcome by adversity, if you give in to the sadness that you have lost one thing or that you cannot do another. You will then have turned adversity into a real problem, into a burden that will not let you go.
A complicated reality has no reason to turn into an exhausting and disappointing situation. She has no reason to put an end to our dreams and hopes. By showing courage and optimism, we can find and take advantage of new opportunities, which always appear eventually. Our limits are not found in our limitations. We still have a long way to go, even if we lose a lot on the way.
Staying at the bottom of the well when difficulties arise can be a real temptation. This is the easiest way. You can mourn loss, failure, or illness, but don’t make it your home. There are many opportunities left for you to have a happy life. However, to achieve this, you must accept the change that has occurred and turn it into a starting point to adapt to the new circumstances.
“Whoever has a why that takes the place of a goal, of an end, can live with any how.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche-
