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People have needs.
If you’re having trouble in
the love department then you may have
just made a very narrow conclusion regarding that last statement. Seriously though, people have a wide variety
of needs; these needs must be met in order for quality lives to be led. Maslow’s hierarchy is a perfect outline of
the tangible and intangible needs that individuals have.
When needs, or even wants,
are not met, problems arise. There has
to be effort exerted to address these problems.
Problems can be big or small
(#firstworldproblems). Only having
creamy peanut butter in the house when you’re craving crunchy peanut butter is
still a problem even if just slightly.
More difficult problems include relationship trouble, financial
hardships and health and safety issues.
For each problem there is a
solution, or at least a pursuit of a solution.
For all the negatives that
problems bring I think there are some important positives as well.
One positive is the fact that
problems provide purpose (a lot of
alliteration going on right there). When
a problem arises, action has to be taken to solve it. Essentially they give us things to do. What would we do if there was nothing to do
(Paradox)? What would we do if there were
no problems? Think of it this way. Firefighters fight fire, but if there ceased
to be any fires they would have nothing to do.
Think of any profession and
it is tied to solving a problem stemming from some need. A doctor solves problems related to illness
and injury because people have a need to be healthy. An advertising executive creatively promotes
products and services for particular companies which seek to fulfill some need
for their customers.
Problems that arise for you
may give you purpose to solve them. Your problems may give others purpose as well, and vice versa.
When
you look at the world this way, as a constant stream of problems and solutions
of various magnitudes, things seem to make a little more sense.
A second positive is the
development that occurs when you face and respond to troubles. Solving problems helps you grow and learn; it
shapes you.
The next time you face a
problem just remember that it is a piece to the puzzle of life and contributes
to the functioning of the world. Embrace
it, and solve it!
Boom!
