How to See the Gift in Problems

With us being right in the heart of the holiday season I felt like there was no better time to write about those moments where it feels like life is giving you a festive nut-punch and Santa is dropping a hot load of coal on your chest. The holidays can be stressful and instead of bringing out our see-the-good-in-all Christmas spirit, we sometimes find ourselves teeter-tottering on an eggnog-induced outburst when something doesn’t go as planned. We each have a vision of how we think the perfect family holiday get-together should go down, and when a problem arises, we tend to get our tinsel all in a twist.

Problems are a part of life. They are inevitable and it doesn’t matter if things are going well or if we are two inches away from hitting rock bottom and being knocked down for the count. When they show up, we can’t help but ask why. Why me? Why now? Why can’t I catch a break? The other day, I heard a different question that made me rethink what I should be asking myself.

What if every problem you’ve ever had was a call to your own personal growth?

You ever hear something, and you immediately felt it resonate with you as a profound and undeniable truth? I heard that question and thought back on some of the different problems that I’ve had in life and realized that similar to time being the difference between tragedy and comedy, mindset is the difference between problems and gratitude. What if all it took to see the problem as a gift was a change in the meaning you gave it?

Looking back on the many problems I’ve experienced; I could clearly see how each one led me to where I am now. It led me down a path I would not have otherwise taken, forced me to grow in ways I didn’t think I could and pushed me to achieve beyond what I thought I was capable of.

My mindset about what problems were had shifted. I saw them with fresh eyes and realized that if I was really honest with myself, I was actually grateful for them. Each one was an opportunity to grow and learn. It was a challenge that life had presented to me, daring me to step up to my full potential.

Of course, since I had this mini epiphany, I encountered several unexpected problems and I immediately forgot my jolly attitude. I fell into my lifelong habit of getting sucked into the drama of the situation and focused on the pain of life’s figurative bitch slap. But then, with a bit of time, I recalled situations that I overcame in the past, and how crucial they were in my journey when I looked at it with the bigger picture in mind.

Just like with any new skill, the more we practice, the easier it gets, and I know life will give me countless opportunities to practice this shift in mindset. Problems are undeniable so rather than picking a fight with reality and getting all butt-hurt that they happen, let’s accept them for what they are–learning opportunities. Even though it will suck ass at the time, we can decide to face problems head-on while trusting that they will lead us to where and who we are meant to be. The more we are able to take a step back and detach ourselves from the problem, the better we will be able to see that it could, in fact, be a gift.