When someone talks about his or her problems in life, if you were to ask them ” Is there really a problem? you would most likely get a vehement response, saying “Of course there is a problem, can’t you see, don’t you understand? Hardly an individual will sit back and reflect on your question before answering. Usually the reply will come instantaneously, without actually thinking or analyzing or introspecting over the question. This is not an isolated phenomenon, but one which all of us are prone to.
Practically every moment, we perceive some problem or the other. Life, for most of us, seems like a never-ending series of challenges and problems, some minor, some major. Most of our waking period is occupied in thinking about some problem or the other and trying hard to find solutions to these. We often feel that once we find a solution, we can be happy and peaceful. But even when we do find viable solutions, we realize that something else has come up, to take its place. There hardly seems to be time and space for feeling happy. Happiness, for most of us, comes in ultra-short bursts—a child being born, a wedding, passing an exam, landing a plum job, winning an award—but somehow, we are not able to hold on to this happy, satisfied feeling for very long. The next problem seems just around the corner. And paradoxically, we are able to hold on to negative states of stress, anxiety, frustration or worry very easily for prolonged periods of time, often for days or months. Most problems are never absolute but relative in nature. Yes, an earthquake, a bridge collapse, a war, famine, or a stampede which kills many are absolute problems to those who are affected. A covid pandemic was close to an absolute problem for the entire world, but yet, there were those whose business flourished due to the kind of work they were engaged in. Apart from covid infection, the general health of the public actually improved, due to an absence of infections and pollution. Covid also helped people to ground themselves, learn new lessons, make new decisions about life, and also to bond closely with their and dear ones. Even a problem like a covid pandemic was not an absolute disaster and had its benefits and makes us aware that many problems are often a chance to grow and learn. Something which is a problem for one person may be nothing for another. One man’s meat is another man’s poison, so to speak. If we were told to solve the arithmetic paper of a first standard child, we would do it in seconds and not see it as a problem at all, But the same arithmetic paper would pose a huge challenge or be a huge problem for a kid who is five years old. Likewise, if someone had to pay a penalty of Rs One Lakh to the government, it would or would not be a major problem depending on whether that person is earning ten thousand rupees a month or ten lakhs.
-P V Vaidyanathan