“Our problems aren’t always our fault, but they’re still our responsibility.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 247)
“Overreacting isn’t going to solve the problem—overreacting usually becomes the problem.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 203)
The Dalai Lama Quote on Handling Problems by Zooming Out and Looking From a Broader Perspective
“When we help others, the focus of our mind assumes a broader horizon within which we are able to see our own petty problems in a more realistic proportion. What previously appeared to be daunting and unbearable, which is what often makes our problems so overwhelming, tends to lose its intensity.”
Dalai Lama, The Art of Happiness
Beyond the Quote (60/365)
This is where the idea of “first world problems” comes from. We will complain about and feel overwhelm from the problems that are prevalent in our world—as small or as large as that world is. If our world is small from inexperience or lack of opportunity, then our small problems will appear to be big. If our world is large from a plethora of experiences and plentiful opportunities, then even our “large” problems will appear to be small. If what we have to complain about, for example, is some stupid thing someone said to us, and our world is small and we don’t have anything else affecting us, then why would we complain and worry about anything else? That which doesn’t immediately affect us doesn’t immediately concern us. The entire scope of our focus is directed at the only thing that is calling for it, which in this case, is the stupid thing someone said to us. That is our entire world and that is our only problem to focus on. Until it’s not.
Read More »The Dalai Lama Quote on Handling Problems by Zooming Out and Looking From a Broader PerspectiveEckhart Tolle Quote on Finding The Life Underneath Your Problems
“Narrow your life down to this moment. Your life situation may be full of problems—most life situations are—but find out if you have any problem at this moment. Not tomorrow or in ten minutes, but now. Do you have a problem now? When you are full of problems, there is no room for anything new to enter, no room for a solution. So whenever you can, make some room, create some space, so that you find the life underneath your life situation.”
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 63)
Beyond the Quote (53/365)
Empty your cup. Before you can make room for new tea in your cup, you need to empty what tea you already have. If you keep pouring, your cup will keep overflowing and you will never be able to drink your tea because your cup will still have tea being poured into it! That, plus, the space around you will quickly start turning into a terrible mess which will result more in panic than it will tea drinking. You need to stop pouring the tea, place the kettle down, and focus on drinking what you have. You need to create some space. And the same is true for your life situation.
Read More »Eckhart Tolle Quote on Finding The Life Underneath Your Problems“You may find it hard to recognize that time is the cause of your suffering or your problems. You believe that they are caused by specific situations in your life, and seen from a conventional viewpoint, this is true. But until you have dealt with the basic problem-making dysfunction of the mind—its attachment to past and future and denial of the Now—problems are actually interchangeable. If all your problems or perceived causes of suffering or unhappiness were miraculously removed for you today, but you had not become more present, more conscious, you would soon find yourself with a similar set of problems or causes of suffering, like a shadow that follows you wherever you go. Ultimately, there is only one problem: the time-bound mind itself.”
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 61)
“Once people stop making excuses, stop blaming others, and take ownership of everything in their lives, they are compelled to take action to solve their problems. They are better leaders, better followers, more dependable and actively contributing team members, and more skilled in aggressively driving toward mission accomplishment. But they’re also humble—able to keep their egos from damaging relationships and adversely impacting the mission and the team.” ~ Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, Extreme Ownership (Page xii)
“‘Happy in spite of’ entails a choice to be happy; it acknowledges problems but doesn’t put them in the way of contentment. ‘Happy if only’ pins happiness on outside circumstances: if only I had more money, less pain, a nicer spouse or house, I’d be happy as a clam. ‘Happy if only’ feeds millions of dollars into lotteries or impulse purchases, which provide nothing of the sort. Ping, by contrast, didn’t expect her hardships to pass, so didn’t pin her happiness on their doing so. When she was younger, she said, she thought moving to America would solve her problems; she found that it just replaced them with others. The lesson was to find happiness not in the absence of pain and loss, but in their acceptance.” ~ John Leland, Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 135)
“Troubles are always with us, and getting rid of this one or that won’t make us happy; it’ll just move another hardship to the head of the class.” ~ John Leland, Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 134)
“Problems [are] only problems if you [think] about them that way. Otherwise they [are] life—and yours for the living.” ~ John Leland, Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 113)
“There are many problems that money does not solve, and others that it makes worse. Rich people still divorce each other, and alienate themselves from their children, and suffer from existential angst, and develop cancer and dementia, and die alone and unloved. Recovering addicts cursed with money blow it all in a frenzy of snorting and drunkenness. And boredom weighs heavily on people who have nothing to do.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 196)
“Most of us sweep our failures and evil secrets under the rug, but when we run into problems, that rug gets lifted up, and our darkness re-emerges, floods our soul, and influences the decisions which determine our character.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me
“I challenge you all to look at your ‘problems,’ and stare them in the eye and say, ‘Listen, this is how it’s going down… I’m not going to try and overcome you anymore or try and face you anymore—you are going to become my friend. And I am going to learn from you as much as I possibly can.” ~ Claire Wineland (14), Positively Positive
“I’m sure you have challenges, things that you wish you could overcome, or things that you could get over… Stop. Stop trying to get over it. Because if we’re trying to get over all of the problems in our lives then our entire lifetimes are just going to be trying to get over problems—that’s all there is going to be. And that is not a life to be proud of. Instead, find those challenges in your life and use them! Use them and turn them into an opportunity.” ~ Claire Wineland (15), TEDxMalibu
“I’m not stuck in this belief that challenges are given to us to hold us back. I am lifted up by the belief that challenges are here to help us move forwards—and that is the difference. That is the only difference between people who are living a passionate, proud life and people who feel sad—or people who get older and feel like they don’t know what they’re doing anymore.” ~ Claire Wineland (15), TEDxMalibu
“If I have learned anything from living and dying, and from being sick, it’s that we all have something really incredible to share. And that maybe for once we should stop trying to get over our problems, trying to get rid of our problems, trying to jump through hoops to evade our problems, and maybe we should start using them because they are one of the biggest gifts you will ever be given.” ~ Claire Wineland, Worldz 2017
“Yes, there are problems, I agree. There are great problems. Life is such a hell. Misery is there, poverty is there, violence is there, all kinds of madnesses are afloat, that’s true—but still, I insist the problem arises in the individual soul. The problem is there because individuals are in chaos. The total chaos is nothing but a combined phenomenon: we have all poured our chaos into it. The world is nothing but a relationship; we are related with each other. If I am neurotic and you are neurotic, then the relationship will be even more neurotic—it is multiplied, not just doubled. And everybody is neurotic; hence, the world is neurotic. The beginning has to be with you: You are the ‘world problem.’ So don’t avoid the reality of your inner world—that is the first thing.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition