Inverting the vex

Some problems are like muddy puddles. The way to clear a muddy puddle is to leave it alone. The more you mess with it, the muddier it becomes. Many of the problems I dream up when I'm overthinking or worrying or ruminating fall into this category. Is life really falling apart or am I just in a sour mood? Is this as hard as I'm making it or do I jus... See more

Does your situation need to change, or just your outlook on it?

I recently came across a story that I love:

Two salesmen were sent by a shoe manufacturer to a rural part of India to investigate and report back on market potential.

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The first salesman reported back, "There is no potential here. Nobody wears shoes."

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The second salesman reported bac... See more

Problems, by definition, have solutions. You might not like the cost of the solution, the trade-offs it leads to, or the time and effort it takes, but problems have solutions.

On the other hand, situations don’t. Situations are simply things we need to live with.

Once we realize that a problem we have isn’t a problem at all, but actually a situation,... See more

Setting aside the normal day to day gripes, which aren't the problem, ask yourself this the next time you're tempted to complain: what have I done to fix this?

In our house, we have a rule: no bitching about something you haven't tried to fix. If you've made the effort to address an issue and been unsuccessful, ok. Bitching still isn't encouraged, b

... See more