Happy Problems
The Bright Side of Adversity
I was once on an inspection trip to a lighting factory in China, to check the workmanship of a lighting supplier for a hotel project that I was working on. The factory consisted of two buildings, with a space in-between, with all production and storage intended to take place within the buildings.
However, the supplier’s workload had become so intensive that he was forced to build a roof in-between the buildings, and then use that as a temporary storage area for his production, with each box carefully labelled and stacked to prevent any damage.
“Hmm,” I said to the owner, “you have a problem of space.”
“Yes, Mohsin, I do,” he replied, “but it’s a happy problem.”
Of course, the term was a bit odd, because he was translating directly from Cantonese, but the meaning was clear. The lack of space meant that business was good.
You can think of many similar situations. Waking up at night because your baby is crying and wants to be fed, but oh God, the baby is so freaking cute, and has your nose. Having to buy new clothes because you lost weight in a healthy way and are now fitter and leaner. Having to work late to a deadline, because you have so much fulfilling work.
Of course, all problems cannot be happy, and there will always be situations in which it is difficult to see a silver lining, for example, the loss of a child, or a natural disaster that destroys your home. I would definitely not want to suggest that every problem can be happy.
But with that caveat in mind, what if we started looking for the “happiness” in every problem that we come across, no matter how difficult it is? The loss of a job forces you into a different direction in life, which ultimately leads to a brighter future. A bankruptcy makes you realize who your friends really are, and makes you more sympathetic to those who are unlucky in life, ultimately making you a better human being. A health crisis makes you appreciate what you have, and forces you to adopt a healthier lifestyle. A difficult holiday, where everything that can go wrong, does in fact go wrong, but brings the whole family together.
I have a cousin who lives by this belief, except that she says it in this way: Whatever happens, it is what God decided was best for you in the long run. This same sentiment may be expressed in different ways.
The universe always gives you what you need, not what you want.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Remember that fire purifies gold, and turns clay into bricks.
What matters is not what happens, it is how you react to it.
As Horace, an 8 BC Roman poet said: “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant.”
It may all be an illusion. There may be no God, and the universe may have far better things to do. It doesn’t matter. At the end of it all, the belief that there is a God who is looking out for your ultimate interests, or that the universe is really, really keen to make sure that you get what you need, is sufficient. How you react to adversity, and how you view problems, will have a great impact on how quickly you recover, and move on.
