but the clowns there definitely know me.
What is your definition of a “problem”? There are at least two ways to define it:
To put these two ideas into perspective, let's compare these two examples.
1. “I have financial problems.”
Here, I picture someone living on a low-income budget struggling to make ends meet. The single moms or broke college kids, for example. To me, these issues are better categorized as “difficulties” or “tribulations”. Problems are meant to be solved. Difficulties are times that must either be endured or overcome.
2. “More money, more problems.”
This guy probably isn’t referring to his struggle to afford food to feed his family. I picture a wealthy person who has more options, more decisions to make, like “what country do we want to visit on our family vacation this year?”
See also "I've got 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one".
Here’s the beauty of every problem - it doesn’t have to be your problem. You’re free to give or to not give a fuck about any issue you choose. That’s where you can find joy. Life isn’t about finding a final solution to all of your problems, it’s about finding the problems you don’t mind spending your life solving.
- A matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome; or
- A question or situation raised for inquiry, consideration, or solution.
To put these two ideas into perspective, let's compare these two examples.
1. “I have financial problems.”
Here, I picture someone living on a low-income budget struggling to make ends meet. The single moms or broke college kids, for example. To me, these issues are better categorized as “difficulties” or “tribulations”. Problems are meant to be solved. Difficulties are times that must either be endured or overcome.
2. “More money, more problems.”
This guy probably isn’t referring to his struggle to afford food to feed his family. I picture a wealthy person who has more options, more decisions to make, like “what country do we want to visit on our family vacation this year?”
See also "I've got 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one".
Here’s the beauty of every problem - it doesn’t have to be your problem. You’re free to give or to not give a fuck about any issue you choose. That’s where you can find joy. Life isn’t about finding a final solution to all of your problems, it’s about finding the problems you don’t mind spending your life solving.
Here are a few thoughts on how we could start choosing the problems we want to
If you are struggling to decide what problems you want to adopt in your life, try saying to yourself “I don’t give a fuck about this”. If you can’t say it and believe it, then those are likely your problems to solve.
If not, just let that shit go.
- Are you happy at work? If not, do you know why? Your job could be lacking problems that you would actually enjoy solving. If you keep getting sucked into problems that should have nothing to do with you try using my one of my favorite mantras - “not my circus, not my monkeys”.
- Are you fulfilled by how your spend your free time? I personally love a good jigsaw puzzle and work on them just about every day. The joy in puzzling for me has never been finishing it (unless I'm excited to start on the new one I just got). If I wanted a finished puzzle, I would have bought a painting.
- Are your problems with your romantic partner worth having? If the problems are things like cheating or being assholes to each other, these are probably not the problems you want to have. The best problems in a relationship generally sound something like “what do you want for dinner tonight?” “I chose last night, it’s your turn.” Those are the problems you want.
- Are you taking on too many problems at a time? Everyone has a limit to how many they can successfully handle.
If you are struggling to decide what problems you want to adopt in your life, try saying to yourself “I don’t give a fuck about this”. If you can’t say it and believe it, then those are likely your problems to solve.
If not, just let that shit go.
