Solutions are not in the problems

in #life7 years ago

The insight that there is really no problems made me flabbergasted. I felt like a deer caught in headlights, discovering the truck wasn´t real. My thinking about problems was destroying every feeling of well-being.

Before I would say "my problems was destroying me". Now I know that there is no problems out there - it´s only my thoughts. I even question that it's"my". I have no idea where thoughts come from.

Skjermbilde 2017-08-15 kl. 18.03.29.jpg
This is the old me trying to find a solution to my problems

It's comical to imagine that I couldn´t separate the problem "out there" and my thinking. "Out there" felt so real. It seems very common for people to operate on "I have problems" level of understanding, just like there is something out there hunting us down and making us miserable. But it's exactly that thought that makes us feel exactly that way - instantly.

Real life example

A year ago I felt terrible stressed at work, qualifying without doubt to be a valid problem in my old way of thinking. I was also stressed when I was home just thinking about work. Cleary my work was the problem, I thought. So I dived into the problem trying to solve it. I need to change work, I should say more no, I could do better and work much harder or efficient. I didn´t see that all those so-called answers were just my mind trying to come up with solutions to what I had defined as a problem. It was the best thoughts my mind could create, given my level of understanding I was operating from - stress.

The solution

A few weeks after my insight we were staying at our cabin near the sea. Out of the blue, I caught myself trying to solve another problem that clearly was more real than my previous problem. This problem had bothered me for a long time and I needed to solve it right now. I just couldn´t take it anymore - it was clearly a huge problem. Then I realized it's just my thoughts and I´m making it a big problem by thinking of it constantly.

This time the insight was deeper and while I looked out the window a sentence came to mind:

The solution to my problems is to understand that the problem never contained the solution.

Here is a picture of the view from the cabin
Skjermbilde 2017-08-15 kl. 18.07.33.jpg

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Nice! A very budhist way to aproach reality as we perceive it. Keep up the good understanding

Thank you @navgon! Now I can add a new tag to my posts thanks to you - "Buddhist" :)