5 problems, 1 solution

Thank you for deciding to read this. In return for your favor, I am going to make you feel good. Okay, let's do it. Loosen up your shoulders, crack your knuckles, and stretch. Let's go.

Let's go back to your school days. Feeling good already, huh? Let me spoil it for you. Let's go to the day of your 12th-grade final math exam. You have done your work, solved problems, revised previous year's question papers, and finally (and most importantly), asked god to save your ass.

After all that, you go to your school, meet your friends, discuss with them what you have learned, what they have learned, what is important, and everything. Then you see your crush and take the opportunity to sneak in an "All the best" and a thumbs up. You see him/her respond with a smile and for a moment she/he give you hope....Oops, sorry, got a bit carried away. Let's get back to our exam scenario. You enter the exam hall and the invigilator starts handing over the question papers to the people before you. You closely study their facial expressions in an attempt to predict how moron of a person who prepared the question paper was. Finally, you get your copy of the question paper. By that time two of your friends have already fainted. With cold trembling hands you receive and open it. You go through the 5-mark questions, they look fine. Then the 10 marks, well, manageable. Then comes the ultimate shock. You see the 15-marks questions and they are, to put it simply, sending chills down your spine. Slowly the scent of your dad's leather belt and your mom's rubber slippers fill the room. However, you start answering. 2 marks done. 5 marks done. 10 marks done and finally, the 15 marks that are going to decide your fate. You try answering them with all your already worn-out brain cells. Let me stop right there. I am going to torture you no further.

Let's, for a moment, stop and think of this scenario from two different perspectives: the perspective of the then-you and the perspective of the now-you. The then-you would have, at that moment, thought "My life is gone. I should have studied well. I am not going to score well." For a moment that maths exam would have felt like the most important thing in your life and no being able to write it well it would have seemed to be the most dreadful problem of your life.

But now, looking back at the same scenarios and the problem itself, you probably are wondering "That's so cute. I was so naïve back then to have worried of such an insignificant thing. Why did I even worry about it so much?". Maybe scoring a few more marks would have fetched you a better college and steered you towards an ever-so-slightly better life. But that's not the point here. However, I have a few questions to ask you:

• Does that problem, that you were once worried about soo much, exist now? If yes, does it worry you now as much as it used to?

• With all that you have gone through in life so far, does it even qualify as a problem now?

• Do you feel like you shouldn't have wasted a lot of time and mental energy worrying about it at that point in time?

Try answering these questions.

The conclusion

The problems in our lives and how much of a threat they pose are all time-bound. In the exam scenarios, a problem that once haunted us as kids now seems so pointless. But, back then, we all would have spent a lot of time and mental energy worrying about it and its consequences. This is the same for all problems in our lives.

It may be hard to believe what I am about to say, but it is true. The problems, the difficulties, the struggles, whatever is it that you are going through right now, it's all going to fade and disappear as time passes. Bear in mind that I don't mean to say that you must simply do nothing about the problem at all. All I am saying is to stop worrying and do whatever it is that you can do. Stop thinking that it is the end of the world. Stop thinking that you are never gonna make it out of it. You will go through it and more importantly, grow through it. The future you will probably be laughing at what you are worrying about right now. Like all things in life, nothing is permanent. Our problems are no exception. They will fade and we will heal. Just stop worrying and beating yourself up. It's not the end of the world.

Have hope.

Practical takeaway

If you are going through something right now and no matter how awful/dark/horrendous it seems, just say to yourself "It is going to be fine. I am going to sort things out like I always have. As long as it doesn't kill me, there is still hope. It will get better. It always does". Hope that things will get better with time, all the while doing whatever it is that you can to make things better.

I hope that I made you feel good. Thanks again. Love. Peace. Growth.