Living the dream on Planet Problem

Problems come with the territory of being alive and as we all know they occur in a multitude of forms, shapes, and sizes and are as much part of your life as is breathing. My thought has always been that everybody on the planet has problems, some of them some of the time, more of them a lot of the time, and many of them most of the time.

People can even be a problem when they are not alive!

Definitions

You will find many definitions of the word. Here are a few.

Oxford: a thing that is difficult to deal with or to understand. Big/ serious/major problems.

Merriam-Webster: something that is difficult to deal with: something that is a source of trouble, worry, etc.

Dictionary.com: any question or matter involving doubt, uncertainty, or difficulty.

It’s not so much the definition of the word, which broadly explains the meaning, it’s a list of the categories and sub-categories of problems that I believe would be almost impossible to compile.

“Problem” can be a noun, an adjective, it can relate to any and every situation, topic inside and outside one’s immediate sphere of life. The Einsteins, Hawkings, Edisons, mathematicians, and other geniuses have always been and still are the greatest problem solvers when it comes to algebra, geometry, theorems, space, gravity light bulbs, and the like. You can’t beat the sciences for providing absolute answers to the above category of problems, but it takes a certain type of brain for that category of problem-solving, and these guys and gals have that.

However, maybe they are at the bottom of the class when it comes to solving good ol’ relationship problems. Great in one department, lousy in the other?

Walking time bombs

But who am I to say? I would take a substantial bet that in a survey personal relationship problems would be top of anybody’s list of problems with financial problems a close second. I’m sure the psychologists and psychiatrists have their disorder problem list they would have had to learn along the way to their Master's degrees, but I doubt whether that list is exhaustive and complete, but rather is a continuously changing and growing one.

I believe anyway that we are all walking, talking time bombs with the potential to explode given the right individual set of conditions, timing, and situations we may find ourselves in to trigger the explosion. And that includes psychologists and psychiatrists.

The more I think about the subject of problems, the deeper I delve, so I begin to realize how infinite it is. Imagine for example trying to accurately define the level of a particular problem if it falls into that type of category.

The good, the bad, the ugly

There are even good problems to have, for example, team coaches love to be in a position where they have a problem who to put in, who to leave out of the side for the game because there is so much depth of talent in the team.

Being beautiful can be a problem or at least the cause of many problems. What about financial problems; health problems, weight problems, car problems, kid problems, work problems, never mind their sub-categories? What about problems related to the environment, natural disasters, plagues, pandemics endangered animals…? There’s no end.

A comedy of errors may sound funny and be a source of humour, but not all the time.

To any extraterrestrials watching and waiting out there, it must seem like we are just one major problem planet not worth conquering and giving the invasion a miss.

Is wisdom overrated?

There is a saying that “the older you get the wiser you are,” attributed to American author David Levithan, but that is not the end of the quote. It goes on to say: - “this is true. But you also question what use is this wisdom."

This makes logical sense to me, but to be honest, the older they get, the more stupid many people get. And I’m not talking dementia or Alzheimers here.

We shouldn’t feel alone. According to the Bible, King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, yet also among the most foolish. God gave him unsurpassed wisdom and he blew it by breaking God’s commandments. In his defense though can you think of anyone who has not broken any of God’s commandments?

We are all fallible, we’re built that way.

Mistakes are baby learning steps

There is also the advice given that you learn from mistakes, in fact, it’s good to make mistakes otherwise you won’t learn! I have no problem with that idea.

I believe however that you are only going to be in the same or similar situations so many times in your life, some situations more than others. Let’s say you get yourself into trouble enough times in 5% of every situation that causes problems in your life to actually learn from your previous mistake and be wiser in dealing with it the next time. To the extent that you manage to eradicate it from your life – for as long as you live.

What an achievement that would be!

Guilty as proven

I’ve been guilty of allowing problems to distract, disillusion, de-energize and depress me for far too long. I have made an executive decision in 2022 to change all that.

Problems will always be on our shoulders, but they don’t have to be the dead weight they so often are. Analyzing them in their context and dealing with them accordingly will be part of my mission in the new year.

More of this next time.