Problems or Solutions?

Ok, so are you a glass is half empty or half full kind of person?

Many people often joke about this, but it really does show a lot about your outlook on life and how you deal with situations in general.

All of us face problems at one time or another.  For some of us it may seem like all the time.  But something I have discovered is that I cannot change people, I may not even be able to change my circumstances, however…I can change how I react to people and how I react to my circumstances.  That is the key right there.  I can only change myself.  If I stop making excuses and handle problems with maturity, grace and honor, everything begins to change for the better.

The people around you may drive you nuts.  Your circumstances may suck.  But if you choose to change how you would normally react, your life can get a whole lot easier and less stressful.

For instance.  Maybe your car breaks down.  Do you exacerbate the problem by complaining and whining?  Do you start cursing your spouse for not taking better care of it?  Maybe you even start blaming God because you just never seem to get a break.  Does that describe your typical reaction?  What if you choose to step back and take a deep breath and look at the situation objectively and not emotionally?  What if you look at ways you can scrape up some extra cash to pay for that repair?  What if you decided from the moment it happened that you were going to find a solution before you ever went down the negative road?  Do you see the difference?

There is an old story about a principal of a small middle school that had a problem with a few of the older girls starting to use lipstick. After applying lipstick in the bathroom they would then press their lips to the mirror and leave lip prints.
Before it got out of hand he thought of a way to stop it. He gathered all the girls together who wore lipstick and told them he wanted to meet with them in the ladies room at 2 pm.
They gathered at 2pm and found the principal and the school custodian waiting for them.
The principal explained that it was becoming a problem for the custodian to clean the mirror every night. He said he felt the ladies did not fully understand just how much of a problem it was to remove the waxy lipstick, and he wanted them to witness just how hard it was to clean. The custodian then demonstrated.
He took a long brush on a handle out of a box. He then dipped the brush in the nearest toilet, moved to the mirror and proceeded to remove the lipstick.
That was the last day the girls pressed their lips on the mirror.  http://www.jokebuddha.com/Problem#ixzz32BSpskyw

Successful people find solutions to problems.   They don’t just sit around complaining about the problem.  That never solves anything, but only makes it worse.  So what do you do?