Two Ways to Solve Problems
When I have a problem, I have two ways to solve it:
- Intellectually: I look for a solution. I weigh the pros and cons, I make lists, I put together a plan of action for the future to calm the anxiety in the present.
- In presence: I look for the physical manifestation of this anxiety in my body. The knot in the stomach, the obsessive image, the vague obligation. Without chasing it away or holding onto it, I watch it change until it disappears.
Problems are a function of who we are.
By changing our inner dispositions, we transform our relationship to external circumstances. The problem that seemed insurmountable the second before vanishes.
The intellectual solution, on the other hand, often only shifts the difficulty. Once the first situation is resolved, a second one arises, just as problematic, because it comes out of the same crucible.
That's the trap of thinking: it solves problems, sometimes. But nine times out of ten, it creates them.
Which often makes it the wrong tool for growth.