It’s Not a Problem, It’s an Experience

Move beyond trying to escape life's pains, or judging yourself for how you deal with them

Juan Jose/Unsplash

To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. ~Pema Chodron

Life has its down periods: your boss is unhappy with you, your business is struggling, you get into a fight with the love of your life, your finances are tight, you aren’t getting good sleep, you get sick or have chronic pain.

Our way of dealing with this is usually to do one or more of the following:

• Get away from the problem—quit your job, break up with your partner, or stop caring. Anything you can do to exit.
• Ignore the problem—just don’t think about it. Pretend nothing’s wrong. Think about anything else.
• Comfort yourself—drink, smoke, food, TV, Internet, social media, games. Anything to take your mind off the difficulties.
• Complain—lash out at someone, rant, moan about it to a friend, feel resentful, tell yourself that the other person is the problem (because they are, right?!).

There’s nothing wrong with any of these things. Don’t feel guilty if you do them. Sometimes, they can be soothing or helpful. Talking to someone about your problems, for example, is a good idea. Giving yourself some rest so that you are better prepared to take on the world’s problems … that’s not a bad idea too.