Got Problems? Good!

Life works.

It works in direct proportion to the way you work it. It is working just the way you have planned it. If you are saying to yourself, “This is simply not true!” you most likely do not have a written plan. No plan is a plan to have things happen the way they happen. Consider the fact that your life is the way it is because of the choices you have made up to this point.

Got problems? Good! Why do I say good?

Because problems call attention to that which is in need of a fix!

You must accept responsibility for your choices and for the consequences of your actions. Accept responsibility for the way things are. If you don’t like the way things are, change them. Unless you have a plan for life to be different than it is right now, life will continue to show up the way it always has for you. Be accountable to yourself.

“When things work; take the credit. When things don’t work, take the heat.” ~ Larry James

Accept responsibility that we cause most of the problems that occur in our life. Most of life’s predicaments are predictable. We don’t seem to learn from our difficulties so we get to experience the same predicament again. Not learning from adversity makes your life’s predicaments predictable. Problems by design are repetitive. If we don’t learn the lesson the problem presents the first time, we can predict with a high degree of reliability that it will occur again.

Ever wonder why you make the same mistakes or have the same problems over and over again? Not paying attention may be an answer. Thinking you have no control over what happens to you is another. The measure of a man’s progress is not whether he has a tough problem to deal with, it’s whether it’s the same problem he had last year.

Upsets are prolonged by rehearsing them in your mind. Quit wallowing in your difficulties. If you want quick recovery from your problems, learn to quickly change your mental image of the problem. For things to be different, you must do things differently. How you have been won’t work. If how you have been in the past isn’t working, you must learn to change the way you do things.

My friend, Dr. Michael LeBoeuf, author of Imagineering, says that a mistake only proves someone stopped talking long enough to do something. When you do things, you will make mistakes. The secret is to learn from your mistakes and push forward. Never stay hooked to the past. The past is an energy drain. Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want. You should only look back to learn from your mistakes and to see how far you’ve come. According to Oscar Wilde, experience is the name we give our mistakes.

It was Charles F. Kettering who said, “You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go, the more chance there is of stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere.”

We all make errors. The miracle of error is the access to opportunity it presents – to learn from your mistakes. Mistakes cause problems. Accept responsibility for your problems. They don’t just happen.

Copyright © 2013 – Larry James. This idea is adapted from Larry’s books, “How to Really Love the One You’re With: Affirmative Guidelines for a Healthy Love Relationship,” “LoveNotes for Lovers: Words That Make Music for Two Hearts Dancing” and “Red Hot LoveNotes for Lovers.” Larry James is a professional speaker, author, relationship coach and an award winning nondenominational Wedding Officiant. He performs the most “Romantic” wedding ceremony you will find anywhere. Something NEW about relationships is posted every 4th day on this Relationships BLOG.