The Problem & The Attitude
Throughout the whole of last week I was trapped in my house by the frozen wasteland that Nashville had become. I huddled under a blanket and whined extensively about cold toes and the lack of sunshine. I was whiney about the weather. Whiney about my coffee getting cold. Whiney about my internet connection. Whiney about a problem I was/am/oh-my-God-I-forever-will-have at work. My work goes where I go, and last week it went to the pit of, "Please go die a slow and painful death. Thanks, and have a great day!"
I arrived at my desk at 6:55am on Thursday and started opening the 452 billion tabs I use throughout they day when I froze. In that moment Momentum slapped me across the face with this quote -
"The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem."
*sigh* Curses.
If looks could kill, my glare would have melted my MacBook Air and I would owe my boss an awkward explanation. I slumped my head forward onto my desk and cried out in overly-dramatic anguish. Why does the problem have to be my problem because I'm not even the problem in the first place?! Like... Seriously?!
Well as all of you out there who are more mature than me know, you can make yourself part of the problem you're facing by only having a problem with it, and camping out there. You struggle and churn, and whine about it to the point where the problem becomes everything your whole little world rests on. You become one with the problem, promise it a life long relationship full of fights and no resolutions. You're bonded by angst like that creepy ex-boyfriend your parents locked out of the house.
This doesn't solve anything. Nada. Zilch. Noodle. It makes you miserable and your attitude sours faster than last year's milk. And at that moment, your attitude becomes the problem. In your own life, you've doubled your issues. Tripled them even, depending on if that attitude takes you down the road of lashing out, doing bad work or not thinking creatively. You're increasing your own issues by not observing the problem, creating a frame of reference for it and then choosing a path to a solution. As much as we all hate to admit it, sometimes we really are our own worst enemy when it comes to our attitude.
A word to the wise - don't do what I did. Don't make your problem worse by choosing a problematic attitude. Choose a different one. It's not easy, and isn't a magic cure-all to the root problem but by golly it will reduce the churn. You might have to choose this new attitude by sheer force of will, God's honest truth and a beer immediately following 5:01pm but it can be done. Should be done. And in my case, will be done.