When Problems aren't Problems
If there is no solution, there is no problem!
You might be saying, “What nonsense! If there’s a problem, it’s a problem.” You are wrong.
Ajahn Brahm sums up the matter very well in his book Opening the Door Of Your Heart using the example of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, who illustrated this very well at the time.
Macmillan was asked by a reporter: “Prime Minister, what do you think about the current problem in the Middle East?” Macmillan replied: “What problem?” The reporter reiterated: “Prime Minister, the current problems in the Middle East, the dangerous tensions.” Macmillan replied: “There is no problem!” The surprised reporter replied: “Prime Minister, what gave you that idea?” Macmillan replied to him: “There is no solution. And if there is no solution, there is no problem!”
Maybe you are surprised and think this is wrong because it does not correspond to the common understanding of ‘Problem’. If you think it's wrong, please think again carefully. Have you ever considered problems for which you didn't have a solution? I'm sure you've done this; in fact, everyone has done this before.
How often have you asked yourself, “Why did he or she look at me stupidly?” “What if I had done this or that in that situation?” “Who put me in this situation?” “What happens to me if war breaks out in the Middle East?” You may be able to add many such questions.
The answers to these questions are simple. Most of the time, you will never know why someone looked at you stupidly, you will never know what would have happened if you had acted differently in the past. You will often never know who put you in an unpleasant situation (unless you were looking in the mirror!), and you won't find out how a possible war in the Middle East would affect you.
All of these are problems that are not problems for you because you cannot find a correct and logical solution to any of these ‘problems’. So – why are you wasting your time on this? If you ask the wrong questions about life, you will receive the wrong answers or, more often, no answers. You will never get to know your limits with these wrong questions, and you will never be able to set off on the path to a limitless life with this thinking - guaranteed.
What unites people who find and have problems that are not problems?
They don't live today, here and now, but in yesterday or tomorrow. Many great poets and thinkers have drawn people's attention to this error, but many people have never understood this fundamental insight of life:
Don't dwell on the past; don't dream about the future. Focus on the present moment.
Buddha
Let bygones be bygones.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
We all live from the past and perish from the past.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Let bygones be bygones. Do not saw sawdust. It's already sawn!
Dale Carnegie
Tomorrow, we can't do it anymore. So, let's live today.
Friedrich Johann Christoph Schiller
Believe me, it is not wise to say: I will live. It's too late to live tomorrow: live today!
Marcus Valerias Martial
Living in the present, that is, acting in the present in the best way, is wisdom.
Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy
And finally, the key piece of wisdom:
Strictly speaking, very few people live in the present; most are preparing to live soon.
Jonathan Swift
You will never find your limits if you think about problems you cannot solve.
You especially won't find your limits if your thoughts stay in the past.
And you won't find your limits if your thoughts wander aimlessly into the future.
You can and will find, experience, and overcome your limits if you live and arrive in your present every day. And not only that.
Living in the present helps you have a much better quality of life because you don't block your thinking with problems that aren't worth considering.
This is how you set out to LIVE WITHOUT LIMITS.
Promised!
As soon as you stop looking for problems and find solutions, you will recognize better every day:
The best is yet to come!
If you build positive ignorance into your mindset, no one else will be able to tell you about problems that you don't have:
