choosing better problems

Plans, man. 

The sweet sweet CRACK of responsible adulthood. 
Oh sure, they feel so good in the moment. 
You're flying high on all that CONTROL... all that CERTAINTY.... 
All those beautiful SOLUTIONS you think up.... 
Details just neatly dropping into their tidy little places.... oh yeah!!!
Everyone happily playing their part, and you can see the results just

rolling in, week after week, month after month.... mmmmmmm, nothin better!!!

Please tell me this is not just me. 
You can get high on your big plans too, yes? 
Even though they are often followed by a "growth opportunity" :)

In my case, when Life tossed in some intense unexpected challenges to the mix, my high-level plans came crashing back down to earth. After the event described in yesterday's post, It felt like I was back in that little one-bedroom apartment, pretty much on my own to barely and miraculouslty make ends meet each month.

Except this time, it wasn't just me that would be eating the day-old-bread. 
Somehow, I HAD to take care of this little family of three of us.

That much I knew for sure. That's what I was ALL IN for this time. ​

But how?? 

I remember looking at my monthly budgeting spreadsheet, playing with the numbers one day, again considering that path of getting a "real job." If I were to go back to a previous job I'd had, it turned out I'd have to work over 112 hours per week to make this money happen. 

WHAT!?! 
And when I looked at my schedule, it seemed I could maybe eek out around 12 hours per week to work! Not one-hundred-twelve, just TWELVE!


I could feel all of this coming to a similar crossroads as I had been at before. There was no way to solve this puzzle from the old mindsets I had. I would HAVE to somehow look at this differently. 

​I remembered my Toasty Table day - where I had started asking better questions...

 
Do I believe this type of scraping by (financially AND emotionally) is really the path that God, my Source, the Universe, Fate, even Random Chance really has for me? 
Do I actually believe this is what I'm meant for? 

I couldn't honestly answer with a YES. I mean, I know we all go through rough times, but I think the key word there is "through"! 

But, if the rough part is inevitable, and I can't avoid problems and struggle completely, then:

What are the problems I am meant to be solving? 
What are the puzzles I am BUILT to be solving?

s it....
How to live on much less?   OR    How to Receive much more?

Shall I spend my limited energy working on....
How to work more and never see my fam?   OR   How to work less and make more?

Shall I start figuring out....
How to find a steady job?   OR   How to make my business grow?

Am I better suited for....
How to grin and bear it for years to come?    OR   How to leap frog from this into a better life in alll the ways? 

Is my time better spent solving...
How the system isn't fair?   OR    How can I make the sywstem work for me?

Shall I work on...
How to put my family on my back and walk uphill alone?   OR   How to gracefully receive support and real help?


The truth is, I could have chosen ANY of those puzzles to solve. I highlighted the ones above that seemed like WAY better paths for me personally, but honestly, all paths require hard work, risk, determination, sweat, tears, sacrifice, more sweat, vulnerability, receiving help, surrender, compromise, etc. to a greater or lesser degree.

You're not gettin out of it! Lol. 

So why not choose the BEST problems you can think of?? 


Which puzzles in your life would YOU actually like to solve?
Which puzzles hold such little pay-off (no juice!) for you, that you never want to ask that question of yourself ever again?
What is a better question you can ask right now today about a problem you are facing? Or, can you choose a better problem completely?

That's not a rhetorical question, I'd actually love to know!
​
The final episode in this series drops tomorrow.... I'll let you know what happened next and where it's leading me to today :D 

To your better problems​!