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Problems
Posted by TonyB • 5/11/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Tags: beliefs, problems
How do you view the problems in our life? ie., do you look at them as a punishment for something you may have done, a lesson, a gift?
User Comments
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Life would be pretty boring without challenges. I see problems as a means towards growth. Of course there are problems and there are problems. I am sure some can claim more than most of us would want to touch - but those who survive are an inspiration. -
Problems in life are God's way of reminding us to keep our faith alive..They are not punishments, but lessons to learn to make us a better and stronger person. -
a lesson.
Life is a lesson, we move through life and every hardship we endure is a lesson that we learn from and use to grow stronger.
These lessons mould the people we are personality wise, we learn to adapt and can handle more difficult problems as we have the confidence to handle them more easily from our past mistakes. -
I totally agree with both kevingoodman & praning... if we percieve them as such and take them as lessons, they are a means of personal & spiritual growth. -
I think that (like nearly everything in life) they are ultimately what we make them. There are always lessons to be learned in hard times, but if we get caught up in feeling sorry for ourselves, sink into despair, focus on anger at whatever/whomever we perceive to have caused the problems, etc, we're not very likely to learn them.-
Nerts. You took my line. Good points, BTW: I think among the biggest dangers from a 'problem' isn't what's happening outside, but what's happening inside a person's mind.
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I look at them as a challenge and to better improve myself. Always looking back at them they make you laugh at how easy it is to make the right choice when you know everything that was going on. But at the time figuring it out was very hard. -
...are usually opportunities.
But not always. I mean terminal cancer of the you have a week variety is a problem, but you know, there's just not a lot to work with there opportunity wise. But 99% are really opportunities. -
Random events, which you can handle as you see fit. It's your life, live it as you choose. -
Problems? My cows get out. At least I got cows. My kids get sick. They get well. I'm having a tough time this month making the mortgage. I got a home. The price of gas is going up. I have a car. Food is getting expensive. I don't live in Bangladesh. I'm pissed off at my government. I don't live in Myanmar. My kids are a pain....I have them to hold and love. My wife, my life, my friends...
I live in the best place on earth, surrounded by the finest people I can know (including you-all.) I'm alive, healthy enough, and free to complain.
Count you blessings. No matter how bad you think you got it, there are depths of hell you'll never see. Count your blessings and peace to you all.-
wow, what a great way to put things into perspective
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It is not what your country can do for you it is what you can do for your country
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This is an amazing perspective! -
I can't believe that came out of Don
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I've seen something like that circulating around the Internet. LOL! But it didn't involve cows and such, so Don's original!
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Everything Don said, except I have goats and horses, not cows.
Oh, and my wife is a husband.
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Life is really about luck. I seen people where everything goes their way. Others try a million times and nothing happens.
It is called "the luck of the draw"-
Though there are plenty of people who had every road block thrown in front of them and they overcame those roadblocks to create lives full of meaning, happiness, joy and fulfillment. It seems like there is much more to our lives than just luck. I suggest we tend to call people lucky when we don't want to look deeper into how these "lucky" people overcame their problems and became what on the surface may appear to be luck.
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Tony, I think that's only half true. It's true that there are a lot of people who have overcome tremendous odds and have achieved amazing things, and I definitely agree that the end result is at least in part dependent on the attitude and actions of the person involved...but to pretend that because certain really gifted people are able to "rise up out of the ashes" means that anyone similarly situated can do the same is unrealistically harsh.
For instance, I often hear Oprah Winfrey thrown out as an example meant to prove that there's "no excuse" for people with backgrounds of abuse, molestation, poor or non-existent parenting, etc. to turn out the way they have. But not everyone has the same natural gifts, and to suggest that, for instance, a child with an IQ of 90 and an overwhelming shyness who finds herself in the same circumstances is no better or worse off than Oprah Winfrey was is ridiculous.
I don't disagree with what you've said as far as it goes, but taken to its extreme, it too becomes an excuse not to see uncomfortable truths that might require action. -
I tend to believe that you don't need high IQs to overcome obstacles. I believe it comes down more to one's belief system about things such as what problems mean and how luck plays a role in life.
We are all dealt different cards, however that doesn't mean that each one of us, in our own ways, can't have a life of meaning and fulfillment; whatever that means to the individual.
No denying life's uncomfortable truths.
Andy Beard just stumbled this www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/blog/2008/05/08/7-ways-to-be-more-lucky/
It's a post that talks about luck.
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There are some problems you make for yourself and some you get as a result of the choices of others. If you look at it as a lesson, a problem will help you grow in one way or another.
A problem can reveal weakness and give the opportunity to change that weakness for strength. It can change you from dissatisfied to thankful as it can make you reevaluate your priorities.
A problem can make you bitter or sweeter. The outcome is based on the choice you make in how to respond to and solve that problem. -
Hey Tony 1.0..I'm about to go to work. Please don't ask these questions, I could go for hours on this. Will write a short novel after
Tony 2.0 -
Winning money in a casino, say $1 million is total luck. Some people can go for 100 years every day and won't win a dime. I think other things in life work the same way.
With some people the chips fall into place very easy. This works with many other things in life also.
Don't know the reason why though. -
Of the three options -
- Punishment
- Lesson
- Gift
Punishment? Yes, if that's taken to include logical consequences of behavior.
Lesson? Yes, since I think that people can learn from anything that happens around them.
Gift? Yes, because as DaneMorgan said, they're also opportunities. -
Punishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant or aversive on a person or animal in response to an unwanted, disobedient or morally wrong behavior. (Wikipedia)
I do not believe that the major problems I have experienced in my life are due to punishment by a supernatural being. I do not believe that a supernatural being "cursed" me with cancer nor do I believe that a supernatural being arranged for a drunk driver to fall asleep at the wheel and drive his car across the centerline into mine.
It's my experience that when I take risks and/or rise to meet life challenges with an optimistic mindset, anticipating that good things will come to me, they do. -
Well...I guess it depends on the problem. Some problems I can see as self made, but for the most part problems are just a part of life. It's how you deal with them that's important. -
Problems are a pain in the keister. Problems are caused by a complex phenomena, known as cause and effect that percolate over infinite amounts of time and are sometimes so distant from the original cause that the effect seems random and arbitrary.
You may have caused the problem, you may not have caused the problem, you may have only been part of the problem, but either way, you're going to have them -
lol...that's great
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Problems are opportunities to learn, change, and grow, no matter how difficult they may be; it's all about character development in my book. -
A person would never have any problems if they just stepped back and dealt with it differently.Example my being broke right now isn't a problem cause I know it's temporary and definately has alot to do with my environment.Whereas another person's air conditioning in their car may not work and they have a NUCLEAR MELTDOWN.
Also not have any expectations on people in these times is a good way to avoid 99% of the so called "problems"-Trust me I still get caught out there on that one...........
as far as a cosmic karma payback system I dont go for that at all but a good attitude will definately alter the outcome EVERYTIME. -
Problems??? I'm charismatic,rich, good looking and have "huge equipment".....Hang on...no....I'm thinking of someone else. -
I see it as a combination of all the options you mentioned. However, I try not to focus on the negative (a punishment) until the problem is resolved. -
Well, I'm gonna make MadameX and Norski happy here
(Despite MadameX taking a shot at me for bringing up Oprah Winfrey)
I believe that we can look at problems (based on the full Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr) as a pathway to peace and work through them.
There are problems that we can change and problems that we cannot. We need to be able to determine one from the other.
That's the tricky part most of the time.-
though you can always change the meaning you associate to any problem.
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Are you kidding? I change the meaning to every problem
I thought it was called "Looking on the bright side"?
I think Voltaire wrote an entire book about it -
so then why differentiate between problems that we can change and problems we cant. Since it's all about meaning and we can change the meaning of any problem then there isn't a difference between the 2.
And regarding who said this before me, someone else said there is nothing new under the sun. -
If a Hurricane Comes and knocks down My house I can't change that.
I can stop procrastinating and pay my Homeowners insurance on time.
Some things we need the courage to change, somethings we need the serenity to just accept. That's why we need to differentiate. -
Absolutely, Tony. What you just said there is KEY!
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I think Jesus likes to kick back and eat popcorn and laugh at the reality TV show created by all the problems God curses me with.-
No Offense Doc but I honestly believe that if women don't have drama in their lives, they will create it.
May not be true for all women but at least the ones I know.
On the bright side, you may have what every other woman wants
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A persons perspective always plays a major role because it determines how one perceives what they are facing. My Mother taught us an easy way to determine possible outcomes by using these two words:
EITHER / OR
These words can usually help one figure out the best course of action or inaction to take.
EXAMPLES: Either it is a good thing, or it is not. Either he likes me, or he does not. Either I will overcome this, or I will not. Either I depend on my common sense, or I will not. Either I will win, or I will lose.
Either way they always help me figure out what I need to do. -
Watch out, Red Panda in Serious Mode
This is a very timely relevant question for me personally.
Last night I was watching the Oz version of Sixty Minutes, a show that I generally detest because of its sensationalism and what I consider to be subtle negative programming of the masses (well sort of). They were covering the mortgage default issue and it caught my ear because we are in the middle of relocating. What I became interested in was the mindset of the people because as the show went on I kept hearing some very strong statements that puzzled me. And yes I am always sympathetic / empathetic towards peoples anguish. One of the women that were interviewed said something that made my ears prick up, it was, "Well, we're both good people and we say - well, I say to myself, you know, "What have I ever done to deserve this?" You know, my life's always been battling and I'm fighting it, and I'm still battling."
Wow, there's a lot in that and I don't wish to be disrespectful to her in any way but when I look at it, it implies that if you are good, only good things will happen, or things that we perceive to be good. So should ‘good’ people be immune to whatever life wishes to serve up?
As some people here know, my teenage son died a few years ago and if we look at it from one perspective it is a tragedy, a senseless loss of human life and so forth. Part of the unfolding/ healing process for me was the changing of my attitude and looking at it from another angle. If I thought the universe was DOING something to me, killing my family, it would create a war between the whole and me; how could I compete? I could never be at peace with such a Universe that may include a God that does stuff at random to make mere ‘good’ mortals like I suffer.
I could look at it from the ‘karma’ perspective but that does not work for me, that’s like the boys scouts and as each I do good, I get points and maybe if I get enough I’ll fly off into Nirvana to sit with the other Bodhisattvas and Deities. Or I could really beat myself up and view it from the crucified Christ perspective and live a life of suffering because to suffer means to be holy and be amongst the saints. Regardless of my interest in Spirituality, none of that stuff really works for me and not prepared to take every action that passes me by as ‘personal’.
So really, for me everything is a gift, the supposed tragedy of the death of my son is a lesson in compassion, to embrace the gift of life and recognise the preciousness of people that pass through my world. As I age, the loss of my youth is a sign of the mortality and an expression of my humanness, a reminder of my potential immortality beyond the body. The changing fortunes of wealth that we experience only point me to what I really value most and give me a deeper understanding on how others may feel when they are needy or abundant.
What I know now is that everything is in order in its own way, even if it looks totally dysfunctional and out of sorts. And I am grateful for this thing called life. -
Every "problem" we encounter is only a "problem" if we look at it that way.
I prefer to see difficulties we face as obstacles, challenges and learning experiences. And I attempt to treat them that way as well. (The key word there was "attempt"). But seriously, I think I do a pretty good job at it and try to share this with other so that they see obstacles as motivators, rather than things that bring them down or make them give up on what they are trying to accomplish.
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Yeah .. what DocKC sez .. Every "problem" we encounter is only a "problem" if we look at it that way
I tend to look at problems in either two ways now:
(1) a good time to exercise my brain thinking and problem solving abilities
(2) a good time to come to Blog Catalog and waste the time away and forget about my problems and hope they magically disappear. -
I am with the good Doc here - There are no problems unless we let them become problems. Deal with what is going on in a positive manner - yes - there are failures and set backs in life - but those are learning tools and stepping stones to your ultimate success... and you can define that success anyway you want!
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When I was knee-high to a grasshopper a survivor of the World War Two Holocaust visited our school...
He told us how lucky we were just to be alive and living in a stable democratic free country and we should be thankful of our blessings and strive to do something with our lives and blessings...
He then began to describe how his family, friends and neighbors were murdered or forced into inhumane slavery to be overworked and underfed until they died...
That short visit left an indelible impression on many of us who were there till this day...
Many times we can overcome our problems by solving them or at least trying to solve them... -
Problems in life are just interrupt singles, which can occur any time.
One must handle them gracefully -
The corporate sales cliche of PROBLEM = OPPORTUNITY rings true for us in all aspects of life.....
Problems are relative...
A late tax bill, a late pizza delivery, a terminally ill relative (we all are anyway, right?) and one of many in Burma.
Problems, like golf, reveal our true selves.
www.gosmelltheflowers.com -
Gracious me, how bored you would be if your life was all sunshine and daisies! Sure, for a while you'd be relaxed and happy, but problems are such a part of life - from getting stuck behind a slow driver when you're late for work to heavy wind throwing a tree branch through your windshield; from colds and chicken pox to a hundred kinds of cancer - that eventually you'd spend all of your time just waiting for the other shoe to drop. The law of averages will catch up with you someday! Problems let you really appreciate the good times. They also help you learn some of the forty-two billion ways not to live your life. -
There are no problems unless we let them become problems. Deal with what is going on in a positive manner - yes - there are failures and set backs in life - but those are learning tools and stepping stones to your ultimate success... and you can define that success anyway you want!
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Amen!
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