Chapter 66 Problems and Setbacks.
One weekend long ago, my brother was steering an open boat up a river in Borneo with 18 friends. We were eager to reach the picnicking place, to swim and fish in the sparkling waters of the lush rain forest. Suddenly dark clouds appeared from nowhere; then it rained cats and dogs. Most of us and some of our food were drenched. Surprisingly, my brother enjoyed the punishing wind and rain, as a refreshing downpour. He started singing, and soon he was leading the group into various merry-making songs, with hand-clapping and drumming of cooking utensils. We enjoyed the whole expedition to the end. We could easily have whined and mourned, and filled the rest of the day with anger and anguish, but our response has made heaven of hell! Stephen Coveyremarked: 'Its not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us. Mike Murdock said, 'Winners are not people without any problems. Winners are people who have learned how to overcome their problems.
In the last chapter we s aw that life brings hardship. Lets face it now, because once we bravely look at life in the face, understand and accept it, then its problems are less of a problem. A life without trials and toil is unheard of. F. A. Clark said, 'If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably does not lead anywhere. The popular advice-columnist Ann Landers noted: 'Trouble is...an inescapable part of life - proof that you are a card-carrying member of the human race. If happiness consists of total comfort without worries, then the happiest individual would not be a human, but a hippopotamus, grinning in the mud!
Adversity arises from various causes, like the lack of knowledge, skills, technology, funds, preparation, communication, understanding, acceptance by others, etc. These can be solved with time and efforts. Rapport, exploration of common grounds and win-win situations in fresh and flexible ways bring harmony and solutions. Resistance can be tactfully turned into acceptance. Let us always introspect, and rid ourselves of ill-feelings. Resentments undermine situations, sap our vitality and eat us away! Find the causes of grievances and solve them creatively and objectively.
The best way to leave a problem is to solve it. Here is how: 1. Believe that your problem is solvable, then rest or sleep on it. 2. Study it with a fresh, calm and clear mind. 3. Look at the picture from a distance, take the puzzle apart into small, understandable and manageable pieces. 4. Ask all kinds of probing, creative and idea-sparkling questions like: Can solutions come from adding, discarding, reducing, mixing or compromising something? (Please refer to Chapter 30.) Creativity is important in problem-solving; many solutions come from fresh, untried ideas. 5. Prayer, meditation, retreat, intuition and the subconscious are producers of solutions. Sometimes a good way to solve a problem is to find some humour in it! Necessity is often the mother of invention; adversity, the father of rebounding efforts or new discoveries!
'Problems are opportunities in work clothes.’ Said Henry Kaiser. Einstein noted, 'In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. This is so true! If you want a big opportunity, look for a big obstacle. Disappointments spur determination, stumbling blocks turn stepping stones, crises induce creation, setbacks breed sagacity, problems bring possibilities! Creative frustration has brought many things. The difficulty of hearing and seeing people over distance gave birth to the phone and TV. The hardship of coping with accidents and misfortunes built the global multi-billion insurance business. The need to hide or borrow money spurred the colossal banking business. The difficulty of moving people across the world stirred the growth of the mammoth airline industry - which is a multi-million dollar operation every hour! C. Kettering, the American inventor admitted, 'I could do nothing without problems, they toughen my mind.
God put us into deep waters, not to be drowned, but to be drilled and strengthened. Hardship toughens us to cope better, as lost battles have taught new ways to win wars. Thousands of great obstacles have been overcome on earth. Should they hamper you? Beethoven was deaf, Solzhenitsyn and Mandela were imprisoned, Ray Charles, Jose Feliciano and Stevie Wonder are blind! If you want to have a rainbow, you must put up with the storm first! No race for any valuable prize could be an easy one. A stumble is not a fall. Every tear has a smile behind it, and setbacks are quickly forgotten. Bad times are not that bad after all, they make us appreciate the good times!