Why You Don’t Have to Solve All Your Problems

Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about why you don't have to solve all of your problems. I like to start with a quote by Pema Chodron. She says, "We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem. But the truth is, is that things don't really get solved.

They come together and they fall apart. They come together again and then they fall apart again. It's just like that. And the healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen, room for grief, for relief, for misery and for joy." So I think something that we often misunderstand about practicing mindfulness, you know, is in the beginning, we might practice mindfulness feeling like it's going to help us rise above all the challenges and problems and all the messiness of everyday life, or like we're going to sort of tie a tidy bow around our messy lives and get it all together finally. I know that this was the thinking that I had.

And you know, and the thinking kind of goes that we're eventually going to become so wise and so awakened that we will never again be confronted with difficult situations, how we're going to be so at peace that will never again experience conflict or have misfortunes or unfinished business or problems, you know. It's all just going to work itself out and none of this will matter anymore. The reality is problems really are just a part of life in the sense that there will always be unresolved things that you haven't quite found a solution to yet. There'll be things that break and need fixing, challenges that arise and obstacles that come up as you move in a certain direction. There's going to be times when things just get messy, unpleasant, or hard, you know, both in your own immediate life and in the world as a whole.

And even if there aren't big messes for now, if there are times when you actually do kind of get it all together, it's pretty normal that soon enough, it's all going to fall apart again. This is just the nature of human life. And if we can accept that fact, then we can find a deeper peace of mind in the middle of it all. So mindfulness is not about trying to control everything or get rid of all about problems. But what it does offer us is the ability to just find peace and healing in the midst of everything.

As Pema said, "The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen." So the invitation for today and ongoing is that when problems do arise in the flow of your life, whether big or small, see if you can cultivate an attitude of unconditional acceptance towards what's arising. That doesn't mean, of course, that you have to like it or want it, but simply waging peace with the way things are. From there, you can take any action needed to change things, if that's needed, but you can do it from a mindset of acceptance, peace and clarity. Wishing you well with this practice. And as always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us.

And let's now settle in for today's meditation.