photo credit pixabay.com
you have an opportunity.” Gil Johnson, quoted at his funeral on June 25, 2016.
Don’t know how the little storm troopers are going to solve their egg problem, but their brains (if they had brains, that is) must be going a hundred miles an hour trying to sort things out. And that’s the thing: profound problems lead to profound thinking and profound solutions. I’m not going to get all Hallmark-y and chirpy here and say, “Be glad for your problems!” That’s a bit much to bear, isn’t it, especially when you’re in the thick of things? What is helpful, though, is to look for solutions. What can be done? What should be done? Let’s go on from there.
I am reminded of two other personalities who had this same attitude. First is a World War II British commander, General Richard O’Connor. (I believe I have tracked down the correct man here; I’m remembering what I’ve heard about a British commander who fought in the North African campaign. O’Connor’s forces destroyed the much-larger Italian army and forced Hitler to send Rommel to try to rectify the situation. The story goes on and on from there; I’d recommend reading his Wikipedia entry if you’re interested in the full description of his career.)
The point here, though, is that O’Connor was able to do what he did because he absolutely refused to get bogged down in problems, and believe me, there were plenty to get bogged down into if he had so chosen. If something went wrong, as of course it inevitably and frequently did, he wasted no time in regrets and recriminations but just did what was necessary to get on with the job. It’s amazing how successful you can be if you refuse to agonize over what can’t be undone. (Boy, would he have had something to say to me at various times in my life!)
The other figure, someone I knew personally and with whom I worked for a decade, was the principal of Silver State Baptist School, Dr. Omer Perdue, who died just this past spring. He was true Christian gentleman and a joy to work with. But what I remember most about him was that he said he loved coming in to work every day because there would be plenty of problems for him to solve. (Eventually he did decide that 20 years of problem-solving was enough and he became a college history professor.) Isn’t that a great attitude? “Today I’m going to be challenged to use my talents to the fullest because I will have problems to solve.”
What problems do you face today? We all have some. Do you shrink from them or do you face them?