Daily Om - Facing Problems: Running Away versus Moving Forward

Most of us run away from our problems at some point rather than stand up and face them head on - this includes forms of running away like self-medicating with alcohol, drugs, compulsive sex or porn, and even compulsive video gaming.

Running has never been known to solve a problem, and sometimes (maybe often) it makes them worse.

This Daily Om from yesterday (November 4, 2011) looks at this issue.

Running Away versus Moving Forward
Facing Problems

Make sure you aren’t running away from your problems, always moving towards something.

There are times when change—moving to a new city or a new home, or changing careers—is the right thing at the right time. But there are also times when the urge for change is really just a desire to run away from problems that need to be faced rather than avoided. These are the kinds of problems that recur in our lives. For example, issues with coworkers that seem to arise at every job we take, or repeatedly getting into unhealthy relationships. A move might temporarily distract us, and even cure the problem for a time, simply by taking us out of the situation in which the problem fully manifested itself. However, the problem will eventually appear again in our new situation. 


One way to make sure you aren’t running away from your problems is to notice whether you are moving towards something that is exciting in its own right, as opposed to something that is appealing only because it is not where you are now. For example, if you are leaving a city because you feel you can’t afford it, you could be reinforcing poverty consciousness, and you might find that you are unable to make ends meet in your new city as well. It would ultimately be less of an effort to stay where you are and look more deeply into your beliefs about money. You may discover that as you address these issues, you are able to make more money simply by changing your mindset. You may still decide to move, but it will be an act with a positive intention behind it and not an escape, which could make all the difference.


Any pain involved in facing our issues is well worth the effort in the end. When we face our problems instead of avoiding them, we free our energy and transform ourselves from people who run away into people who move enthusiastically forward.


What do you think?
Discuss this article and share your opinion

Lisa Earle McLeod - Empathy and Innovation: An Unexpected Pairing That Will Solve any Problem

According to Jeremy Rifkin (The Empathic Civilization), empathy is the future of our human enterprise, or we will have no future at all. In this article, Lisa McLeod suggests that empathy and innovation can solve a lot of our problems. I think she has a point.

Men have tended to lead with power and authority (yes, huge generalization), not with empathy - but McLeod suggests that empathy allows us to understand problems better and, therefore, to find better solutions.

I would also argue that this approach allows us to function better in relationships. Despite claims to the contrary (mostly in popular culture), men are equally as good at empathy as women, we just have not be encouraged as much to develop that skill.

Empathy and Innovation: An Unexpected Pairing That Will Solve any Problem

Lisa Earle McLeod - Keynote speaker and author, 'The Triangle of Truth'

Q: What do world hunger and bad customer service have in common?

A: The secret to solving them both is empathy and innovation.

Empathy and innovation seem like an unlikely pairing, but together, they're the secret to solving just about everything.

Here's why. You have to care about a problem before you're motivated to solve it. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone because his wife was deaf and he wanted to help those who couldn't hear.

Empathy for his wife ignited the innovation.

The challenge is, everyone wants to be innovative; it's powerful. But empathy sounds like some wimpy thing your mother would lecture you about.

Innovation is sexy. Empathy isn't.

Can you imagine a company ad campaign with the slogan "We're the industry leader in empathy?"

Unless they ran a chain of funeral homes, very few would embrace the mantra. But that's a real shame because empathy is a huge competitive advantage.

Read the whole article.

Visit her Blog -- How Smart People Can Get Better At Everything
Web site -- www.TriangleofTruth.com