Problem Solved

We are faced with problems
And we wonder what to do
What if solving the issue
Is to first admit that the problem is you?

Hello all. How did you do with letting go of some of your control last week?

I realize that this week’s topic might rub some of you the wrong way and the first four lines of this blog have caused you to close your email and delete this. I hope that it peaks your curiosity enough to keep you reading. I am bringing about this subject because of an email that I received this week that partially read: It's really a nice day when you can sit by yourself and not have any problems. When you do that, then you'll find out that you were also the source of your problems. And all the people you blamed for being your problem, were only reflecting to you your state of imbalance.

That statement made me take a hard look at what I see as problems in my life and challenged me to see my so called issue’s for what they are. We all have many challenges and situations that we see as problems and we rack our brains to try to find solutions. Instead of looking to ourselves, we look around for things and people that we can place blame on. When we do this, not only do we bring in more negative energy but we give up our power to those very things and people that we believe have brought on our grief. As the above states, these people and things are just reflections of ourselves where we could be “out of balance” with ourselves. I prefer talking about being in harmony with ourselves, but for the cause of this blog, either one works.

In coaching, we discuss different areas of your life; there are several including relationships, career, play and fun, health and wellness, finances and a few others. While I think that we won’t have a balance of all of these at one time, I think that we can create harmony in all of the areas of our lives by first accepting what is not in harmony or what we see as being “out of balance”. So when a situation in your life comes up and you quickly decide who and what is to blame for your problem, try and take a step back and see where you might feel out of balance with yourself about that situation. If it is someone at work that annoys you, maybe you need to create a shift in the area of your life around career. Just like if you and your spouse or significant other can’t stop arguing about money, maybe there is something you are feeling about your financial place in your life that you haven’t seen yet.

For this week, when I start to blame something or someone for what I see as a problem, the first thing I am going to do is take a step back and see where I may be out of balance or harmony with parts of my life and then see what new opportunity there might be for me in seeing something new and different about myself that I hadn’t seen or wasn’t willing to see before. What will you do differently?