There is nothing quite as bad as the feeling of overwhelm.
Just in case you don’t know what I am talking about, I mean the feeling that you can’t do right for doing wrong, the feeling of chasing your tail, feeling like you have just solved one problem and before you have had the chance to recover, it appears as though another one is looming in the distance.
Do you remember the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland? He said ‘the hurrier I go, the behinder I get’.
Whenever I got into this state of mind, one of the first things that I used to do is wish for less problems.
The pursuit of problem free sounds nice on the surface, but I am sure you know cannot and does not work in reality, because even the ostrich has to come up for air.
Life really changed for me when I stopped making defeatist statements about my predicament, and started asking questions.
I am sure you have found yourself in a terrible situation, and when you are in it, it is so easy to say ‘I can’t believe I have ended up here’.
But look at how changing a defeatist statement to a powerful question, can lead to a series of even more powerful questions;
1. How did I end up here?
2. How can I exit here?
3. How do I ensure that I don’t end up here again?
There are 2 phrases associated with sailing that help to illustrate why seeking a problem free life is futile.
Smooth waters don’t make skilful sailors, so it will not be possible to get to higher levels in life and experience, without encountering difficulty.
The other is this; you can’t determine the blowing of the wind, but you can determine the set or position of your sail.
Life teaches that every strategy, system and solution comes with a set of problems attached. The best way to navigate this, is by understanding that if you ask better questions, you will get better answers.
Have a great week!
