So my laptop doesn’t work anymore and bnow I am forcefully resigned to writing my articles, abdb midterm philosophy paper, on the computes in the back of Gleason. However, the specific computer that I chose seems to have a ibg probblemb with the letter b. Sometimes I get duplicates, and bsometimes it just appears out of nobwhere. This is trublby unfortunate, ut I’ve decided that sometimes life bbe like that, anbd there’s nobthingb BI can bdo aout it. 

Instead, I’ve decided thbat bnow is the perfect time to write a very serious article aoubt the lemons in life, and how to take your prolems with a grain of salt. Or, in my case, how to take your missing bb’s, and make a q with it, bbbecause people love bbqs, andb I love writinbg.

Inb a prior week, I had written an article aobut self-reliance and resilenbce, a piece that I was told truly resobnated withb people. Well, you can consider this article a brbanch off of that piece. Today, I am here to tell you that when you encounterb problems, it is up to you to create ways to overcome them. It is up to you to bmake thbe ebst of any situations that you find yourself in, and to turn the unfavorale tides in your favor. 

One of my favorite quotes that I repeat daily is, “I asked for strength and God gave me difficulties to make me strong. I asked for wisdom and God gave me problems to learn to solve […] I asked for love and God gave me people to help […] I received nothing I wanted. I received everything I needed.” (I wabs ale to retaibn the quote bbby using cobpy and paste. ctrl+c and ctrl+v workb fine, just don’t ask me to bput anythibng in bbold). This quote is apparently attriubted tob “Hazrat Inayat Khan,” an Indian poet, and, while I’m not necessarily religious, thibs quote hbas openbed my beyes to thbe ways thbat I approachb problems. 

Whenever I encounter an issue that I think I cannot overcome, I try to thinkb, “Bhow can I grow from this experience?” and try to approach thbe challenges that I face in life as if they weren’t necessarily thbere to obstruct me, ut rathber to contriubte to my gbrowthb as a peson. 

And dear reader, I hbope thbat you too see the problems that appear in your life and, instead of thinkibng, “Why must I be thbe target of all thbe world’s hatred?” (without the b’s of course) you can instead approach it like a programmer trying to fix their coding assignment due in an hour — wondering how to explain the bugs in their program as if their code was totally supposed to senbbd a camel flying into the sun at 50 mph. Or, approach it like a humor writer trying to add a bitb of spice into their otherwise very dry bbq. Throw in a bbit too many bbees into that otherwise very unforbtunate situationb and try not to get stung.

Now that I’ve almost bubrned down the kitchenb, it’s your turn to cook. When you approachb your problems as if they’re valualbe lessons rather than inconsequential obstacles, I wonder what kind of person you’ll become? What will you show the world?



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