How Do You Eat an Elephant?

How do you eat an elephant?

The answer to that question leads me to ponder another philosophical analogy that potentially holds the keys to a happy life:

Life is like math – just a series of problems that get harder as you get older.

No matter who we are, no matter what we do, no matter what measures we take to avoid them, problems are a part of life. You cannot escape them. You can try to run from them, and although you may get away from your current problems, a change in situation or location only brings a new set of problems. Accept it—you will have problems.

So whether or not you have problems is not the question. The issue is your response to the problems that you will, and do, face. In school, you can hate math and refuse to do it, but that does not make the problems go away. You only have more trouble as the problems get harder down the road. The same is true in life.

As I said before, you cannot escape problems; but you can solve them. If we consider problems as challenges waiting to be solved, and we approach them with a positive attitude and open mind, the solutions are very often quite obvious. Unfortunately, this is where many people get bogged down and give up, because as often as the solutions are apparent, they just as often require some degree of work to accomplish. Since a large sector of the population is generally opposed to any type effort required from them, the problems of this sector tend to just mount up before them like a great mountain. Each of the problems itself may not be that big an obstacle to overcome, but compounded, they present a challenge that would be daunting to even the most diligent and creative soul.

Thus, the key is to tackle each problem as it presents itself, before it has a chance to multiply and negatively affect your psyche. Not only does this approach keep the number of current problems to a minimum, but it also provides a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment, as you reflect on each of your conquests. And the wisdom and skill you gain in the process can only help you in the long run as you learn the best ways of dealing with similar problems in the future.

Attitude is the key. The attitude which you bring to the table will ultimately determine whether your life will be a happy one, free of past problems, or whether you will continue to lead a miserable life of accumulated problems you are trying to avoid but that will never go away.

Attitude is not an inherited trait that we are born with and cannot change. Attitude is a habit of response, borne out of a long series of response choices that we have made in the past. Habitual complaint and avoidance creates a fog of negative attitude that prevents us from being able to see the sometimes obvious solutions. Whereas, seeing each problem as a challenge that will lead us to a better life is the motivation and learned response that will keep us moving ahead in life toward success and happiness.

No one ever accomplished anything without first overcoming problems. It is attitude (learned habitual response) that has made the difference between the NFL quarterback and the Armchair quarterback. It is attitude that will determine the difference between you living in a nice house or landing in the Big House. It is attitude that either conquers problems or is conquered by them.

Those who choose to view problems with an attitude of challenge and conquest will continue to move ahead, unobstructed, while the rest of the population sit back and complain from behind their self-imposed barrier of problems. If you are one of those currently sitting and complaining, all is not hopeless. Even though your problems have accumulated to the volume of Mount Everest, remember that even the greatest of mountains was conquered one step at a time. Your solution is to get up and take the first step. Conquer the first problem. And then approach each subsequent problem with the same attitude, until, one at a time, you have reduced the mountain to a molehill and you can start moving ahead in life with the rest of us. If you refuse, however, to put forth the effort to solve the first problem, that mountain in front of you will become your tomb.

So how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! Take the first bite and start living again.