Face Your Problem

Dear Yi Jun,

What is the secret ingredient of tough people that enables them to succeed? Why do they survive the tough times when others are overcome by them? Why do they win when other lose? Why do they pass the examination when others fail?

The answer is very simple. It’s all in how they perceive their problems. Yes, every living person has problems. A problem – free life is an illusion – a mirage in the desert. Accept that fact.

Every mountain has a peak. Every valley has its low point. Life has its ups and downs, its peaks and its valleys. No one is up all the time, nor are they down all the time. Problems do end. They are all resolved in time.

You may not be able to control the times, but you can compose your responses. You may not have chosen your tough time, but you can choose how you will react to it. For instance, what is the positive reaction to settle your Latin examination? In this situation would it be the positive reaction to cop out and run away? Blame to others because didn’t help you? No! Such negative reactions only produce other problems. The positive solution to a problem may require courage to face your lecturer and settled all your academic debts by our own before you settle your visa issues.

When you control your reaction to the seemingly uncontrollable problem of life, then in fact you do control the problem’s effect on you. Your reaction to the problem is the last word! That’s the bottom line. What will you let this problem do to you? It can make you tender or tough. It can make you better or bitter. It all depends on you.

In the final analysis, the tough people who survive the tough times do so because they’ve chosen to react positively to their predicament. Tough times never last, but tough people do. Tough people stick it out. History teaches us that every problem has a lifespan. No problem is permanent. Please take care yourself.