What don’t you need to solve today?

All of the things around us, each and every thing, is a solution to a perceived problem. Someone at some point saw a problem, and what you’re seeing is the solution to that problem. I’ll give you a couple of examples.

Someone at some point found it problematic to eat raw things. They got sick and didn’t feel very well from it. So they tried a bunch of things to solve the problem. They came up with cooking, both by grilling and by boiling.

Then, someone found it quite problematic to eat their spaghetti bolognese from their cupped hands, it just wasn’t very practical. But it was better than putting the whole dish on the table, as on the table it floated out and things got messy. So the plate was invented.

Someone perceived it problematic that the plate got dirty from eating from it. Or rather, the problem was that when they were going to eat from the plate, it was already dirty. So they washed it off, and the problem was solved.

All of these examples are of course a bit satirical, but I think there’s some truth to them. We’ve been very good at solving problems that have been interesting for us. By chance or by intention, we’ve gone at them. And so, we’ve come up with every single thing around you.

Now, there are two ways to solve a problem. Either one comes up with a solution, like they’ve done above, or we simply stop regarding the perceived problem as a problem. Let me explain.

In a village in Belgium, there are over five hundred severely mentally ill individuals living amongst the mentally healthy people. The mentally ill are hosted by the mentally healthy inhabitants of the village, and live life as per usual.

Here’s the thing, not every perceived problem needs to be solved. I know from experience how much easier it can be to try to solve something, rather than just shifting my perspective. But that’s the kind of work we need to do at times. For the mentally ill in Geel, the situation there is ideal. They can live relatively normal lives, and the results are much better than one could expect coming from a solution minded perspective.

Now to the moral of this all: There are things that need solving. There are just as well things that don’t need any solving at all.

What don’t you need to solve today?