Seeing Problems Through Different Eyes

I'm learning five languages at once: Spanish, German, Greek, Russian, and Hebrew. Spanish is easy because I've grown up around Spanish-speaking people. German is surprisingly easy because it's very similar to English. Greek is a bit tougher, but since I've studied one of the ancient forms of Greek in college, I could get by. Russian, believe it or not, is not all that hard. The one thing that makes learning these languages doable is knowing the sounds of each alphabet.

Hebrew, on the other hand, has been the hardest language for me to learn -- it's been so hard that I considered giving up on it. The alphabets look nothing like Latin alphabets, and the vowels are nearly absent. It's almost as if the alphabet is all consonants, and few of those consonants could make a vowel sound depending on how the letter is used. Imagine that the letter "V" could sometimes be pronounced as "O." All the letters are capitals, so there are no small forms of a letter. Few letters have two different forms depending on their location in a word. Plus, you read Hebrew from right to left, instead of left to right -- which is great for left-handed people.

So, you feel my pain yet? You could see why I almost gave up on learning this language. I saw, however, that my mistake was approaching this language the same way that I've approached the other languages. The Hebrew language is in a different family than Spanish, German, Russian, and Greek. Since Hebrew was so different than the other languages, it would make sense that I should approach this language differently. Then I started seeing certain patterns in this language that had actually encouraged me to keep learning it. I would not have seen these patterns had I not decided to look at this language through a different set of eyes.

You see, your problems in life are like different languages. Many problems are very similar and you could approach those problems the same way. But then you have unique problems, which are problems that you have to take a completely different approach to. Maybe many of your problems were money-related, but then you have that one problem that doesn't seem to go away with money. Maybe many of your problems were diet-related, but then you have that one problem that doesn't seem to go away no matter how many vitamins, herbs, oils, and drugs you consume.

In our society, it's very, very, VERY common to throw things at problems. Got back issues? Take this. Don't have enough energy? Take this. Your child can't focus in school? Give him this. You daughter has acne? Give her this. Have pain here? Do this. Have pain there? Do that? But what if you have a problem that doesn't go away no matter what you take or do? Instead of giving up, try approaching that problem differently. Maybe this unique problem requires a unique solution. Or in other words, whatever you've done to solve your other problems, don't do that same thing with this new problem.

If I were to have a compelling argument against using robots in the workplace, it would be that all robots approach situations according to how they were programmed. No matter how good you think your robot is, the robot is still limited to what it could do. Robots are not, and cannot, be designed to respond to unique situations. Unique situations are those that are unexpected and nobody is prepared for them. When unique situations arise, there is only one thing you could do to handle them: use an actual HUMAN. A HUMAN could make independent decisions, not robots. To make a completely autonomous robot would put humans on the same level as God.

In the same way, you are usually "programmed" to respond to all situations the same way. But all your problems cannot be solved this way. Sometimes, you have to take a completely different approach to solving your issues. You just need to be willing to accept that maybe, just maybe, you're going about your problems the wrong way. There is an answer, but you won't find it by doing the same things that you've done for your other problems.

I wanted to make money, yet be around my family -- and unfortunately, trying to accomplish this by finding a job had proven to be difficult. Almost every "job" that I had took significant amount of time from my family. Even when my wife was working, she was gone for many hours during the week. So, the kids got to see me very often, but wouldn't see her that often. I didn't want that, but I didn't want the kids to not see me either. There had to be a way for the kids to see their parents very consistently that doesn't require unemployment. 

And yet...it actually took just that: unemployment. That is, both my wife and I had to stop looking for employment and start looking for alternative ways to make money. Of course, ZUMBA twice a week has supplied us with some income through donations -- not much, but every little bit counts. Then I started the Body Challenge, which supplies some income. Then I started teaching more CPR classes, and I had my food delivery gig -- and all of these minor things had actually supplied us with enough income to live comfortably on. My family and I are almost always together, even to the point where I need a break sometimes! Many would say that we truly live a dream life, but this life wouldn't have happened had we not approached our issues differently.

See, there are answers out there for you. The big problem you have is that you're using the same method to solve most of your problems. Sometimes, it's not about having good credit. Sometimes, it's not about finding a good-paying job. Sometimes, it's not about going to bed earlier. Sometimes, it's not about taking more vacations. Sometimes, it's not about going to yoga class, or seeing a chiropractor, or listening to more self-help tapes. Sometimes, you need to do something completely different to solve your problems.

If you ever paid attention to the tool section at Lowe's, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, or some smaller mom-and-pop shops, you'd notice that there are multiple tools. Some tools such as screw drivers and socket wrenches could fix many things. But every now and then, you need a plunger to fix a clogged toilet. There is no tool in the world that could fix everything. In the same way, there is no one solution that could fix all your problems. 

If you have a tough situation, don't give up because you're not making any progress. Just go at your situation differently. When everybody tells you the same thing, then listen to a different opinion. Six doctors tell you the same thing. But the seventh doctor told you something completely different. Five car mechanics gave you the same solution. The sixth car mechanic told you something else. All your friends suggested doing one thing. But a complete stranger suggested something else. When everybody is going one way, consider going the other way -- that way may be the answer to your problems.