Problem – A learning experience

Problems are like never-ending video game-you don’t finish it, you just keep moving to next level of increasing difficulty

Not a day passes by when we dont come across problems - at work, family, environment, people etc, eveready to drain us out. What could be a "problem" depends on the each individual - Lifting a heavy school bag could be problem for a kid, a nagging kid could be problem for a parent, a troublesome worker could be problem for a boss, but everyone has a problem.

Not everyone handles/could handle the problems in the same way. It varies depending on the individual & environment. Blessed are those souls who don’t consider a problem as problem at all. Unlucky are those who had never had opportunity to face any problem.

But the fact is that if we didn’t encounter any problem in any day, it could be either of the two things - either we knew how to solve it, so we don’t consider it as a problem or we haven’t done anything worth to create a new set of challenge.
The word 'problem' comes for the Greek work problema, "a problem, a question"; literally, "a thing put forward" from proballein, "propose" from pro, "forward" plus ballein, "to throw". Hence, problem need not conjure up a negative meaning. Every problem is a challenge put forward, an opportunity to be capitalized, and a live learning experience.
It’s an essential part of growing up to strengthen ourselves for next level – in words of Darwin; it’s the “survival of the fittest”. It’s the problems that bring out the real inner person in us. It’s our choice to take it up and learn or ignore and perish. Ignoring or running away is the most common solution to face it and it’s the best solution to weaken ourselves!

We may not have solved every problem that came in our way, but merely facing and fighting it, by itself is a great learning experience.As Gaius Cassius says -In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.

Lack of problem is not stability; rather it is lack of challenges.

Elders in family or top execs in an organization do not overreact to a problem, for they have faced many and their learning has made them mature in dealing with these problems. What may appear a problem for young person may not be considered as a problem by elders at all.

Dealing with problem in the right way, unconsciously add to our learning experience, even though we haven’t made any conscious effort to do so. Take a case of workplace situation: There could an issue that may seem to be impossible to solve for a newcomer in the team, but you may just say few steps that would have resolved it. It’s because you have faced it before and resolved it and it was added to your learning experience.

There could be exceptional cases of an eternal problem, like an incurable disease, never ending poverty etc. In this situation, fighting it out is the only option. It may not resolve it, but definitely builds strength within.

As they say, what makes a leader is not what he does when things are rosy, but what he does when in crisis.

The fact is that solving a problem will only provide you a different problem with higher complexity. Problems are like never-ending video game-you don’t finish it, you just keep moving to next level of increasing difficulty! Using cheats may get through initial levels, but definitely will stagnate at particular level and will not able move to next level at all, for there is a learning experience missing.

Go on, face it and Unleash your true (and powerful!) Self!