Problem Solving 101

 There was a young boy who was trying to find the land of forever.  Once there, he would always be content and at peace.  Now that's a tall order for people who are relentlessly trying to solve life as a problem in itself.  Finally, after years and years of speculating--and as the boy grew older--he let go of the problem, and then immediately a door appeared in front of him. The door was ajar, the light marked his pathway....
but the young man, just stood there and argued over whether this was the right door that he had wanted!  He made a problem out of the way forward.

Laden in that story is a primary problem solving step--dealing with ourselves, using our brain as a tool, and not allowing the emotions to override the mind.  I have been working with Richard Carlson's steps for problem solving. Would it surprise you as it did me that the fundamental step is first with ourselves?  We should create within ourselves, cultivate if you will, the space and place from which resolutions can germinate.  Once the young man let go of the problem, the door materialized, opened, and let in the light.  However, once the door (the solution) was tackled as the next problem, the door vanished before him.

 The step that Carlson talks about is "letting go of the problem, putting it on hold, letting it settle."  Two analogies come to my mind:  the first is the garden that needs time to cultivate, to grow, and to bear fruit.  The second is the rain storm which muddies the stream and takes time to clear so that you can see what is really there.  Both examples suggest that the more we work at something, the less proficient we become in solving it.  In a hurried up culture, wanting results and satisfaction--all too often we hold onto and magnify problems instead of letting it go -- and as Jesus spoke in his parable--allow the seeds to grow secretly. 
















I have have been working alot with Richard Carlson's problem solving steps--and to my surprise, he adds another dimension often missing in more technical books.  For example,