The gift of problems

I don't know about you, but i'm glad that problems and challenges exist in life. Yes, ok, maybe that sounds kind of a tad too idealistic-oh-lucky-fella-with-a-bed-of-pure-cotton-balls-for-a-life. But seriously. Do you notice how one tends to think, mull, ponder, tear apart to analyse and seek more when there is an issue at hand to deal with? How often have you heard the "i blog more/i think, more when i am depressed" line?

If things were smooth sailing all the time, note that i'm not saying that we do not reflect at all, but if there were no uprisings and upheavaling in our lives, would we take time to seriously pause in our tracks and think about the state of the situation, others and ourselves? The process of "worrying" can be taken both ways: As a time for reflection/meditation OR a time to stew in your sad mental juices.

Have you noticed that it is during sticky, painful and unpleasant situations that we take away a precious gem of a lesson or a major crash course on xyz topic. We can choose to be moody for a while but bounce back with new understanding OR we can shrivel up and whine. And whine some more.

There are countless quotes and analogies to illustrate how problems give rise to new growth. So many positive stories through emails and other inspirational posters, postcards, etc that we have nodded our heads in agreement to. Where do these come from? More often than not, they're from people who know what they're talking about, and why? Because they've been through it or have seen it happen. So yes, cliche as these may sound, there is truth, wisdom. It's whether or not we would care to listen.

So yes, problems serve a purpose in this existence.

The sad thing is that some people suffer so much more than the "average person". For some strange reason, some people just have it so hard in life, with problems coming in swift and continual blows, that their Being fast approaches the brink of death (could be physical, emotional, spiritual, mental).

I haven't the answers for that and i can't come close to truly understanding their pain and I can only use my imagination to a certain extent. Though take heart that there are others in this world from the past and present who have come out of their personal struggles, Victorious. Some perhaps even thrive (not just survive) WITH their circumstances, victoriously too. Perhaps in their soul searching and their efforts to come out of that bog, there was a full fledged software change in their heart of hearts, giving them the strength to do whatever that's necessary.

And so this brings to mind the saying by William James, philosopher and psychologist: "Human beings, by changing their inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives".
And i think there are various ways in which to execute that.

(How very applicable to my current essay question.)

NB: Praise GOD! Received a nice score for my first essay of the year for the 3rd level module. Am going to need to continue keeping up this form, and i cannot afford to drop much if i do because i need to make up for glitches of the poor grading system of the OUUK in the past two years.