“NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION”
(English-language proverb)
Need is the primary driving force.
When I have a problem, I found that if I can turn my attitude from despair into curiosity, everything changes. Instead of feeling irritation, frustration, stuck or hopeless, the thought “I wonder if ___” immediately sets me on a path to discovery and creativity that can even be fun. Once the mental wheels are turning, the energy is flowing again, and I know that it is only a matter of time before I find some answers that lead to improvement, progress and, hopefully, solution. If I become stuck along the way, I might ask:
“I wonder who could help me with this?”
“I wonder how ___ would go about this?”
“I wonder if ___ could work, how would it work?”
The key for the attitude shift is to turn it from a problem into just a puzzle to be solved.
For some of us and for some problems, it is easier to adopt this attitude of curiosity that leads to creativity than for other challenges. So, for example, I get turned on with excitement when a client brings me an emotional problem because I know how to deal with it. While they may feel hopeless, I am not because I have ideas of how to resolve it, and I find that fun and immensely satisfying. However, if my car breaks down, I am better off going to a car mechanic who likes those kinds of challenges that I find very frustrating and for which I have neither the talent, skill or inclination to try to sort out myself.
Look for the opportunity
More than inventions come from solving problems–so do livelihoods, businesses, trade, books, speaking engagements, social programs and progress of all kinds. I am not implying that you can turn your problem into profit, but if you could …?
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
Can you do something with the problem that is presented to you?
Can you turn it into something useful?
For example, I have a small homestead and have found a way to use or recycle almost everything. If I find broken eggs, I feed them to the animals. Old vegetables go to the pigs. Egg shells get ground up and fed back to the chickens. I compost the poop, dirty bedding, feed bags. Dirty egg cartons go into the wood stove. Moldy hay gets spread on bare dirt to make it less slippery in the rain or used as mulch. A friend uses broken china and pottery and makes incredible mosaics. The old folks took old clothes and made patchwork quilts or rag rugs. You get the idea. Ask
“How can I use this?” or “How can I make this work for me?”
Look for the Blessing
Sometimes this process can be started with a question such as “what can I learn from this to be better?” The moment I take note and apply it, I have extracted value from the experience. If I am not consciously aware of the blessing, I say
“there is a part of me that can use this experience to make me better or wiser in some way. And that part is doing so now in a way in which I am really pleased.”
Think of your challenges as education. They are helping you to build important life experience and expertise (knowledge and skill that comes from dealing with experiences). They are part of your path to wisdom. Accept it. Transmute and transform it into a blessing both for you and the world. A sense of humor helps.
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Copyright by Roxanne Louise. However, this article may be shared in free online sources only if this copyright notice and link to http://www.roxannelouise.com and http://unlimitedpotentialhealingcenter.com are included with the content.
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