Five Places Where Your Problems Come From

Here is the answer to all your problems! Hahah...of coure I'm joking... but seriously, I'm going to give you my take on why we have so many problems. Here's my list of 5 places where problems come from.

I'm talking about problems in general, not specific problems such as "why isn't this widget working in this other widget" type of problem. I really think if you look at all of these places where problems originate, you can review each one when you have a problem, and see if you can get it solved. Here goes!

1) Lack of spiritual grounding. No compass, no direction.

This is either a lack of spirituality as practice in your life, OR a lack of spritual foundation as having never been given any spiritual or religious education. Just having a spiritual foundation, doesn't necessarily mean you will avoid problems. We all know about the good Catholic girl who slept with all the boys in college or the good Protestant boy who got the girl pregnant. So...spiritual foundation isn't everything, but it counts for something. Having a religious or spiritual education at least helps to form some kind of moral compass and values. The degree to which you practice spiritual "tasks" might determine your level of consciousness and ability to make good or helpful decisions. If your moral compass is high, you are less likely to hurt yourself or others as you make decsions.

2) Lack of skillful discernment (making decisions).

When making decisions, we tend to rely on our dominant center of intelligence. For some it's the head; for others it's the heart; and for everyon else, it's the gut. I am typically a gut decision-maker. How about you? Whatever your center of intelligence is, problems sometimes arise when we don't take the other two centers of intelligence into consideration. Knowing who we are (spiritual foundation) coupled with using our centers of intelligence to make a decision, generally helps us make decisions that have a more positive outcome. We can get more skillful in making decisions by tuning into our center, taking more time to decide (if we need to) and perhaps even writing down the pros and cons of the decision.

3) Erroneous thinking and belief systems

Bad thinking can lead to problems. After all, if we aren't grounded in reality, we're not going to be making decisions from reality. Keeping ourselves in the dark, avoiding conflict, believing things that just aren't true, help to make really bad decisions and leads to more problems in our lives. We need to keep a check on our beliefs and thoughts and manage them in such a way that our decision making becomes easy and on target.

4) Untamed emotions

This is what I refer to as the reaction versus responding reflex. Belive it or not, we can control some of our reflexes. Here's an example: Someone who practices not reacting to loud noises will have less of a reaction than someone who never thinks about loud noises. The person who never thinks about what a loud noise might mean, may freak out (or react mentally and physically) over every loud noise. This is the same with emotions. We know that most of our decisions are made through emotion, not logic. Emotions are driven by thoughts. Thoughts are sentences that enter our head and may be correct or incorrect, helpful or not helpful. But mostly, emotions are felt and not thought about or discussed muched. They are not typically expressed. So when we aren't in touch with our emotions and how to regulate them, then we are likely to have reactions that result in negative outcomes.

5) Lack of stillness, quiet reflection, contemplation, time in nature.

Do you ever wonder why you go on vacation? It's not only to see new things and relax, it is time to get quiet and get away from the ordinary. Vacations are great because you don't have to think about work (typically), and you can get away from all the noise. Spending time alone and quieting the mind helps to keep us calm. Calm people are more responsive than reactive. When we make decisions on what to do, say, or how to be, it comes from our habits of thinking and reacting. The good news is we can calm ourselves down and take advantage of that state which ultimately results in less reactivity, better decisions, and fewer problems by creating more quiet time.

Now, look at any of the areas of your life and assess where you are. If you have problems in your relationship(s), money, career, lifestyle, or health and wellness, you can look at any of the five places where they originate. It may be a combination of things that create a problem area for you. For example, when it comes to having a successful relationship, you can look to your potential lack of spiritual grounding, decision-making, thoughts and beliefs, untamed emotions, and quiet time and reflection, and see if you can adjust any of those to better your life.

Reinvention starts with Spirituality and Connection

“Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of perspective, meaning and purpose to our lives.” – Brené Brown

This is the foundation for creating a successful life and is the main topic of another article - Reinvention Starts with a Spiritual Foundation.

If you want help in navigating life (life coaching), making better decisions and eliminating problems, book a consult call with me today. Click the image below.