Rethinking Your Problems
When you say thank you for your challenges
you welcome growth and opportunity in your life.
When I was growing up in a small town in northern New Jersey, my dad used to say a phrase that I truly didn’t understand.
The way I remember him saying the quote isn’t exactly how Google tells it, but I like my dad’s version better. The real quote is, “If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.” -- Regina Brett
My dad’s version is, “If the whole world put their problems in a hat, you would want to take yours out.”
Whichever version works for you, you get the gist. Because when I was a kid, I didn’t understand why people would go back in and pick out a problem at all. I’m sure my dad tried to reason with me, and I probably ignored it as I tended to do. Looking back now, it’s something that is so real and prevalent in our society today.
Social media tells us how perfect everyone’s lives are, how beautiful everyone’s food is and how rich celebrities are. What social media doesn’t tell us are the problems. It doesn’t tell us about the fights or the moments spent sitting on the couch with no make-up, or even the fact that money does not buy happiness.
When all we see is the good stuff, the pretty stuff, the curated sh*t of course we’re going to believe that our problems are vast in comparison to everyone else. But when we stop and think about it - and not in a way that we would wish anything negative toward someone else - we should simply realize that no one’s life is perfect, no one’s life comes without challenges and no one’s life probably is what you think it is.
Lately I’ve been realizing that the challenges I face everyday and meant for me. And when I’m really on my A game and I put the work in and I am feeling really good, I can actually step out of the situation I’m in and analyze it with an unbiased head. The truth is, this is something all of us have the power to do at any moment in time, but we don’t always choose to do it. It’s easier to react than it is to stop and think about where you’re coming from AND where the other person is coming from.
All this to say, we all have problems. We all face challenges. We’re all human and we’re all trying to figure it out. Say thank you for the problems you face, because they are meant for you. Say thank you for the challenges in front of you because you are being called to rise up and meet them with grace. Whatever you are facing right now may feel like the world on your shoulders and I honor you for whatever it is you are going through. But I also invite you to put all the world’s problems in a hat and ask yourself which one you would want to pull out.
