The solutions-based approach has its place, but life and its problems is multi-layered and calls for a combination of approaches. Problems need solutions. The problem is that those solutions are not always obvious and not always available. Solutions often lack the immediacy that problems have, begging the question of what you do in the meantime. Procrastination, diversionary activity, escapism, playing for time, or just plain venting and idle complaining all have their place. These things may change little or nothing with respect to objective conditions, but they can do plenty to change your subjective state for the better.
I have faced and overcome many big problems over the years. I still face them. I have also faced -and seem unable to overcome - a constant succession of little problems. Such is life, people will say. I have learned to keep it light. I go for sense of humour and light-heartedness. I amuse myself with little diversions and joys that, to those on the outside, those who see only problems to be solved, seems an unproductive waste oftime. They are wrong. It is far from being such a thing. It is a coping mechanism that produces calm by allowing thought processes and emotions time and space to breath. It enables you to stabilize in what often seems like a slide into chaos. That approach alone may not resolve the problems confronting you, but it puts you in a mode and a place that allows you to address those problems in your own time and space, rather than being overwhelmed by them.
I am going with my approach. I have learned from hard experience that it works for me in a way that ‘doing it the right way’ doesn’t. That approach allows me to cope with multiple demands. It got me through cardiac rehabilitation and in recovery brought me to a level of physical fitness I had never had. It got me through life. And I think I’ve done impressively well with it.
Hence I keep it light. I find the joy, exaggerate wildly, enjoy it immensely. None of this means denying the problems you face, the very opposite. It puts you in a position to be able to tackle these
problems with hope. I know the hard truths of living. I should do, having faced them every day of my life. That’s why I have learned how to deal with those problems. The direct route to problem-solving is not always available. This is the case for neurotypical people and, even more so, the neurodivergent.
I don’t need a reminder of “the list” of problems to be solved. I spend every day with that list. Energising myself to start to work through that list is a precondition of success. To go directly to solutions and dismiss and discard the rest risks your efforts tumbling back down to hopeless inertia.
The fact is that the solutions are either not there or take a long time to emerge. Which begs the question of how to keep your spirits high when problems are always with you. I do it my way: Keep it Light!
