The world is full of problems and challenges and individually we will all face our fair share. Typically when we experience a problem in our life we don’t feel good about it. Why don’t we feel good about it? Because it’s a problem and problems are bad…right? Think of any problem that you may experience as a hovering wasp that won’t leave making life very difficult for you.
As you experience this hovering wasp you have a choice… you can be scared of the wasp bec…ause wasps are known to sting…or you can choose to accept it’s presence and be curious as to why the wasp is hovering around you knowing that there could be a very good reason why it will not leave. If you choose to be scared of the wasp and react to the wasp (such as swatting at it) despite the fact that all it is doing is hovering around, you have now added to the problem and increased the chance of it stinging you, which is the very thing you were scared of to begin with. And you may say to yourself, I knew that wasp was going to sting me, and you would be right…You did know it.
If, however, you accept the reality that the wasp is hovering around you and allow curiosity to be your guide, you have now opened the door for a potential solution to the hovering wasp that certainly wasn’t possible in the first option. Now if you choose the second option and accept the wasp, you may find that there is no possible solution within your control (as is the case with many hovering wasps and many problems in life) and the wasp may still in fact sting you. If this happens, remember there is a significant difference between being stung while being an active participant in being stung (as in option 1) and being stung when it was out of your control and was going to happen no matter what (as in option 2).
Now, whether the wasp stings you or not, by choosing to be in a place of acceptance and curiosity, you have the opportunity to actually investigate if there is in fact a verifiable reason why the wasp is hovering around. If you are curious, you may realize that there was a half eaten orange beside you, and by disposing of the orange, the wasp disappears.
Most problems and challenges in life are like wasps. We are scared of them and often instead of accepting their reality, in order to create the opportunity for a productive solution, we add to the discomfort of their hovering presence and react to them, almost certainly increasing the chance that they will persist and worsen.
Moral of the story: When you let fear guide your actions, you will inevitably add to that fear and become part of the problem. If you choose to accept the challenges of life for what they are and you are genuinely curious about how to work through them, you are now part of the solution.
Whether it is the larger problems of the world or your individual life challenges, the truth is we are all in this together.
Don’t react and swat at the wasp…It could sting me too.
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