Episode 274: Quick Chat - Every Problem is a Thought Problem

Episode 274: Quick Chat - Every Problem

is a Thought Problem

Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. I’m your host Lori Lee and today you are here for a Quick Chat - that’s one inspirational idea in 15 minutes or less.

Today chat is: Every Problem is a thought problem. 

It’s a bold statement. But a true one. And one that sets us free. One that puts us in control, most of the time.

So stay tuned as we discuss how much power ACTUALLY have, and how to solve the problems.

Since you are a listener of the Love Your Story podcast I’m going to make the assumption that we are on the same page on the topic of taking responsibility for the pivotal role our thoughts play in shaping our realities. Basically - our thoughts OR stories that we create in our minds create our realities - are we on the same page there? There are 7 Billion realities going on out there…

Ok. With that said, I want to start out with the quote by Byron Katie. She says, “It’s not the problem that causes our suffering; it’s our thinking about the problem.”

In other words, “Every problem is a thought problem.”

Let’s put me in the hot seat. 2023 was a rough year for Realtors and lenders. The higher interest rates meant that for a great many of us the clients buying and selling slowed down. I primarily blamed my slow year on this situation, but here’s another angle - a slower year allowed me to travel more. It gave me more time to reach out and renew and develop relationships with my data base - my past clients. Which part do I want to focus on? Was it a problem or an opportunity?  Problems don’t have to stay problems, they can become opportunities if we choose to shift our thoughts.

In the realm of personal development and self reflection this idea invites us to scrutinize the nature of our challenges by recognizing the subjective nature of them. By understanding and claiming that situations and ideas only hold the power we allow them to hold. 

Another example - if I come from a family where being a part of a certain religion is tantamount to being right with God and the world,  then if I step away from that religion my social construct - family, friends, and members of that congregation may collapse around me, or cause people pain. On the other hand, if there is an acceptance among those people that everyone find their own way in the world, in a way that each individual feels is best for them, then the suffering ceases to happen. 

Or, if respect is really important to me, as it is to most type A personalities and I am disrespected, I will/can feel a lot of resentment, anger, frustration, maybe even embarrassment about this, whereas someone for whom that is not an important thing may hardly notice it, or may not feel disrespected in a similar situation.  In other words - situations are subjective. Problems are subjective.

My mother used to get really upset when her family parties didn’t unfold as she had expected - her expectations weren’t met and she’d often cry before the night was through - she learned to let go of those expectations and go with the flow as the years went by, but this is a good example of a person creating pain for themselves and then learning how to adjust their thoughts in a way that created less pain for them.

Now let’s combine this with the idea that “everything happens for me, not to me.”  With the combination of these two ideas a powerful shift occurs. A shift that can redefine the way we navigate life’s complexities.

Katie’s assertion is that our thoughts about our circumstances themselves contribute more to our issues than do the circumstances themselves.

This is an important thing to realize...