Do
you have a problem in life? Of course, who does not have problems and yes, we
worry about them. We are constantly worrying about the past, present and
future. But, here is a simple formula. When you have a problem in life, you
actually have only two possibilities I,e either there is a solution for the
problem or there is no solution problem. If there is a solution to the problem,
then why worry about it? And, if there is no solution to the problem, then why worry
about it? Because, you can’t do anything about it anyway. Talking about
problems, what is a problem? For some people, everything in their life is a
problem. Right from possibility of World War three, Global Warming etc. This is
where the concept of Circle of concern and circle of influence comes. Stephen
Convey defines that the circle of influence is where a person has some control
or the things, one can do something about like, Personal health, career,
profession, and children and not worry about things like, the weather, National
Debt, Politics etc. While it is good to be aware of these things and do your
part as Human being like, not using plastic bags or using bio degradable ones
and work your way steadily to increase your circle of influence, like become
the President of USA of something.
Transport Problem |
Remember
this, the thinker is always greater than the thought which means, you are more
than your problems and you can always rise above them. What does this mean? I
remember myself few years ago started to trek/climb this famous Tirumala
Tirupathi Balaji or Lord Venkateshwara Swamy hills which is a bit of austerity
and involves walking the 11 Kilometres on a bare foot. The walk starting from
Alipiri or the foothills, at Tirupati town involves crossing the hills,
climbing about 3500 steps and takes about 3 to 4 hrs for a normal healthy
person. One of the formidable hill to climb starts roughly from 2800th
step and the hill is really steep. This is called the “mokalaparvatham" referring
to some devotees actually climb in their knees. So, I reached this place and I
am already exhausted by then and looked at this tall, imposing Mountain Peak
and wondered, “ How am I going to make this?. However, I continued and when I
made it to the top, it was a rewarding experience. I felt spiritually uplifted
and happy.
Two
interesting quotes by Albert Einstein on Problem solving.
“If
I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the
problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.”
"We cannot solve
our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them”. What this
means is that we need to expand our consciousness and thinking that goes out of
the imagined and virtual box that we ourselves have created. Change our way of
looking at things that makes them look smaller.