Now, there’s no problem I don’t like…

During our morning walk, we passed the noisy Park City road sweeper and my wife asked me if I would enjoy driving this big truck as my regular job. I thought for a moment and said “I’d be bored, I’d prefer solving problems instead; in fact, these days, there is not one problem I don’t like attempting to solve…” 

My answer made me think and I remembered that most of my active life I was overwhelmed by what appeared to be an unsolvable problem. 

Since I retired, that outlook has made a 180 degrees turn and today I love problem-solving and must humbly admit that I’m getting pretty good at it. My retirement gave me an opportunity to re-frame challenges not as burdens, but as puzzles worth engaging with. 

I must have shifted to an external reality that feels entirely different with the new lens I bring to it. I’ve moved from “problems as threats” to “problems as treasures.”

In taking a retrospective look at my life, I must admit that I have learned much more through all kinds of adversity, challenges and hurdles than through smooth execution of my plans. Failures have been more potent teachers to me than success. 

Problems are invaluable teachers that release plenty of experience, knowledge and ultimately a great deal of satisfaction. 

Something many call going to the “school of hard-knocks”. Had I had this view of the world half a century ago, my success would have been meteoric, but again, many could say exactly the same thing! It’s almost as if the timing of wisdom is part of its gift. 

I wouldn’t be savoring problem-solving now if I had not wrestled with them for decades before. So, now you understand why I now begin to see a hidden treasure in each ugly problem that comes my way...