Solution to a Problem Lies in the Problem Itself

It was a lovely evening, I sat on my Veranda with a cup of coffee, initiating to write an article for my organization. I found myself to be quite clueless since I had no idea what I should write about. Being lost in my thoughts, I looked around to get some inspiration and motivation to narrate something.

My neighbor waved at me.

I waved back at her and said “Hello Aunty! How are you doing?”

She smiled and excitedly inquired, “So what are you writing today?”

“Still in search for some topic, I’m not able to think of anything to write about. And, how is Uncle doing? Haven’t heard from him for a long time”, I responded back.

Aunty being in her own thoughts started talking about Uncle, “Yesterday, he met with the doctor to discuss my hearing problem.”

I felt concerned and asked Aunty, “Do you have a hearing problem?”

Aunty said stunningly, “Pehle meri baat toh sun lo (Listen to me first).

I don’t know what the doctor advised him but he was being weird after coming back home. I was in the kitchen cooking food when he shouted from the last corner room, “What’s there for dinner today?”. After a while, he came to a room nearer to the kitchen and again yelled, “What’s there for the dinner today? Again, he shouted standing at the kitchen door, “What’s there for the dinner today?” Now, finally when he came closer to me, almost standing next to me and shouted “Darling, What’s there for dinner?” Rama, this is for the 4^th time I am saying, “Its Chicken and Rice!”

He looked disappointed when he left the kitchen

I wondered, I had cooked his favorite dinner, still, why was he sad. So I went behind him to talk to him. I tapped his shoulder and asked him, why are you sad to hear about your favorite dinner? Do you want to eat anything else? You had been shouting all this while inquiring about dinner.

He sat on a couch and started narrating that this activity of shouting from a particular distance was suggested by the doctor to measure your hearing deficiency.

But….

We sat in silence and both of us had a hearty laugh.”

You asked me about Uncle. So, this is your answer!

Aunty went back to her routine saying, she has to accompany Uncle to a Doctor.

I waved goodbye to her with a smile.

A pool of thoughts was running through my mind.

Uncle and Aunt’s adorable activity left me with this thought.

How many times do we think that the problem is with someone else, but it ends up lying within us?

Here, Uncle was so concerned about his wife that he forgot that he may as well have the similar problem.

We feel so concerned for our loved ones that we tend to forget our own problems.

So many times, we fail to think that the problem may not be with others but could be within us.

Between Uncle and Aunty, Uncle was worried for Aunty that she has a hearing impairment that needs to be treated.  He never realized that the problem might be within him.

To be able to think from someone else’s point of view is a very subtle and tricky quality. It can happen only when we step into their shoes and try living there (Here the Doctor understood the problem and made Uncle do the activity to make him believe that he is who is actually having to hear the problem.) When we absorb the thinking of another person, only then we can learn about what that person feels. Thinking from someone else’s perception is a talent.

When we think about the problem within us, we need to understand that the solutions also lie within ourselves. It’s just a matter of realizing the same.

Many times, we are not aware of how the solution lies within the problem or, how can we find the answer so easily attached to the question!

But that’s the fact.

The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it does exist.  – Zig Ziglar

-Dhara Boricha