Can a problem be an opportunity and a blessing, even if it is difficult and unpleasant? Problems are not random and meaningless circumstances within our lives. What we think of as problems are really opportunities to learn something powerful about ourselves and life. Problems can actually help us to move our lives forward to the next level, get to know ourselves better and even get more out of life. Maybe if we could learn to see our problems differently, then we could get more from them.
Every problem presents us with an opportunity to learn. Losing a job may be a wake-up call to consider pursuing new career possibilities that we might not would have allowed ourselves to consider before. We might decide to go back to school and train for a new career. We might decide to pursue a career that we are really passionate about instead of taking a job that really does not thrill us. We might decide to open up a business or be a freelance professional. Losing a job will certainly challenge us to look at ourselves in a different light. We might discover hidden skills or talents within ourselves. A job loss may give us a chance to discover just how resourceful and creative we can be in going after our goals.
Losing a job can push us out and up to a new, exciting level of life. Sure, there probably will be anxiety, doubt, fear and uncertainty as we move from what was familiar to what is totally unknown. Problems help us to learn something new and wonderful about ourselves after we work through the unpleasantness of the situation.
Often, we believe that problems come to us because we did something wrong. Problems are our punishment. If we had worked harder or made a smarter choice, then we would not be dealing with this problem. When we see our problems as punishment, we are denying ourselves the chance to see the lesson inside of the situation. Seeing problems as punishment leads us down the road of blaming and criticizing ourselves which leads to nowhere. We believe that we did something wrong which allowed the problem to develop. We become the enemy and victim instead of the victorious survivor. We lose faith in ourselves. Our level of trust in ourselves drops every time we believe we did something to create a problem. It can be difficult to make a decision or even move forward without trust and faith in ourselves. We can break out of this way of thinking.
Our culture teaches us that to be happy, we need to get rid of all our problems or avoid them all together. If we have a problem, then we cannot be happy. Our happiness is under threat by any problem that may pop up tomorrow, next week or next month. We live in fear of when the next problem will show up and what it will be.
We can learn to see our problems as opportunities in disguise. Welcome and bless your problems. That's right, you heard me. Welcome your problems instead of fearing them. Whatever you try to resist, you attract more of that experience into your life. Since most of us are wishing away problems out of fear, we are actually attracting and creating more problems. If we learn to bless the problem, we open our minds up to seeing the larger purpose of this problem. We now know that the problem is not here to punish us. We trust that life is really working for us, so whatever difficulty comes to us will only help us in the long run. Every person and every experience that we encounter is really a teacher for us. We accept that working through some discomfort is part of the process to finding the lesson in the problem. Without discomfort, we are not growing personally or growing our lives to the next level.
Keep in mind that I am not telling you to seek out problems so that you can grow. It might be easier to stop running and hiding from the problem or cursing it. It is to your benefit when you face the problem directly. I am simply pointing out that a problem has a larger purpose other than to make us suffer or feel miserable. Ask yourself, "What is this problem trying to teach me?" We can learn to accept the discomfort associated with problems with grace because we know that joy is on the other side of it. We can trust that we will be stronger and wiser for having worked through this problem.
When we can welcome and bless our problems, we truly understand that this problem is here for a short time. We are not defined by the problem today nor will we be tomorrow. We are larger than the problem. Our lives are larger than the problem. The problem will be overcome and worked out in a way that benefits us always. We always benefit from our problems. As long as we believe that we benefit from our problems, our minds are open to receiving lessons. Remember our thoughts create our reality. It is unwise to allow problems to get the best of us.
We can willingly open ourselves up to receive the blessings from a particular problem. When we do this, we allow the problem to work its miracles in our lives without fighting it. We allow this problem to help us grow stronger and wiser. We allow this problem to help us develop new personality traits that we did not think we had within us. We allow this problem to unlock new creativity within us that helps us see a new way of life before us.
This problem may temporarily close doors, but it will later open many more doors for us than it ever closed. This problem may force us to step away from what is familiar in our lives, but we trust that we can survive and thrive in this new realm of the unknown. We may experience painful losses when this problem comes into our lives, but we can know for sure that we will gain much more than we ever lost. This problem may take us to a low point in our lives, but we know that we will rise up even higher than where we were before. We will reach new heights, if we allow ourselves to see our problems as opportunities to learn. There is no blame or shame with having problems. What we think of as problems are really our blessings.
Affirmations: I accept all of life's blessings in all forms. I am grateful for my life's teachers. I am ready to learn and grow as a person.
Copyright©2009 Jeannine Robinson All Rights Reserved