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Shift focus away from the problem/solution paradigm April 16, 2014

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Fear and Anxiety, Solving Problems.
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The usual adage in personal growth writing on problem solving is that success is more likely if we shift the bulk of our attention to the potential solution(s) instead of fretting about the problem.

However, perhaps we should consider focusing on neither the problem nor on the possible solution. Both are intertwined in the problem-solving paradigm, and both focus-approaches are non-productive and limiting.

At least, that is my interpretation of a suggestion made by Dr. Richard Carlson, who comments that by obsessing about the problem/solution combination, we are engaging in an intellectual and emotional approach that is counterproductive.

Why? This idea seems counterintuitive.

Because, Carlson says, obsessing about the problem and by implication its solution, we create anxiety and stress and thereby a state-of-mind which is not conducive to clear thinking and finding a way out of whatever difficulties we are facing. Obsessing affects our overall mood negatively and gets in the way of finding answers.

The key, Carlson says lies in “not focusing on the problems, not giving them the energy and attention they need to grow in our minds, making them seem worse. We do this not to avoid facing the problems, but to make room for solutions to grow.” (1)

(1) You Can Be Happy No Matter What, Dr. Richard Carlson, New World Library, Novato, California.

 

Personal growth and the need for flexibility April 15, 2014

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal development, Tao Te Ching.
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People seriously working on a program of personal growth realize that having the intellectual and emotional capacity to be flexible is a key requirement for success.

Without having the ability to be flexible, or the willingness to accept or at least consider new ideas, progress in self-improvement will be small or non-existent.

Intellectual and emotional flexibility also contains elements of the state of tranquility, or acceptance, a major ingredient in building peace of mind. And for many studying personal growth, acceptance, or tranquility is and end-goal.

The need for developing an attitude of flexibility is a common thread through wisdom-writing from the texts of the ancients to those of today.

Flexibility or the ability to bend is a quality present in living things – dead entities are not pliable.

The Tao Te Ching (1), for example, alludes to this. Section 76 discusses how dead things are usually stiff, brittle, hard, and dry, and goes on to say:

Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life.

The hard and stiff will be broken,
The soft and supple will prevail.

(1) Tao Te Ching: A New English Version, as interpreted by Stephen Mitchell, HarperPerennial, A Division of HarperCollins Publishers, 1991, New York