Many are so caught up in their own problems that they cannot see the big picture. Often, seeing the big picture can give one the perspective that makes illusive solutions suddenly easy to visualize. One form of hope can be accessed through stepping outside of yourself and seeing the bigger picture.
Do not seek the because - in love there is no because, no reason, no explanation, no solutions.
"The thing people forget when they are looking for solutions is there is nothing final in history."
The work of worrying – when it succeeds – is to rehearse what those dangers are, and reflect on ways to deal with them. But worry doesn’t work all that well. New solutions and fresh ways of seeing a problem do not typically come from worrying, especially chronic worry. Instead of coming up with solutions to these potential problems, worriers typically ruminate on the danger itself, immersing themselves in a low-key way in the dread associated with it while staying in the same rut of thought. Chronic worriers worry about a wide range of things, most of which have almost no chance of happening; they read dangers into life’s journey that others never notice.
Problems are anchors...anchors away !!
If you show people the problems and you show people the solutions they will be moved to act.
The greatest and most important problems of life are all fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved but only outgrown.
At this juncture, there exist a plethora of reform movements and pragmatic initiatives aimed at different aspects of social, political, and biosperic crises that plague our world. There are ecological designers and environmental scientists who have developed organic techniques to repair and regenerate damaged ecosystems. There are economists who have invented alternative currencies that would institute different systems of value, creating a more equitable economic order. There are extragovernmental commissions that bring the victims of human rights violations and officially sanctioned torture face-to-face with their perpetrators to resolve abuses according to a global standard of ethics. There exist a vast network of nongovernmental organizations striving for environmental goals, women’s rights, conflict resolution, and civil reform, against the resistance of corrupt business and compromised institutions. There are efforts to use the internet to develop social networks supporting sustainable development. There is alternative healthcare integrating indigenous wisdom-traditions with modern knowledge. There are myriad methods for producing forms of energy that do not ruin the environment while encouraging local industries and initiatives. There is the long-suppressed therapeutic use of psychedelics to heal mental disorders, as well as the sacramental use of traditional medicines for elevating the spirit. All of these efforts are important. However, no treatment of symptoms can hope to succeed as long as the underlying cause goes unacknowledged and unaddressed.
[Pinchbeck says we may need to adopt anew moon based calendar such as the one proposed by José Argüelles. In any case our understanding and relationship to time needs to change.]
There is a mythology that solving problems today will reduce the number of total problems in our world tomorrow. The reality is that the universe promises to deliver more. Nature resists a vacuum. We always want more than what we have and the gaps between dreams and reality represent the problems we strive to solve.
The fact that no amount of problem solving will ever reduce the net number of problems in our world is a fact that does one of three things. It creates the paralysis of resignation; it sends us into a fury of denial trying; or it liberates us to realize that the only way out of the dilemma is through an honest commitment to an appreciative focus. Once again, gratitude is the highest intelligence.
Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.
The image of success is important, but even more important is the ability to focus on solutions instead of on problems. That way, you'll never be thinking like a loser, and you probably won't look like one either.
When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished; if the solution is not beautiful; I know it is wrong.
