Stop Running Headfirst into Problems

If you’re having trouble with stress, maybe stop running through a checklist of stress-reduction strategies, and instead get obsessed with eating micronutrient-rich foods for awhile. Or learn the names and appearances of local flora.

If you have a closed-off heart, and find it difficult to open yourself emotionally to other people and experiences, maybe stop running headfirst at trying to connect, and instead just take a cooking class, get way way way too into Jiu Jitsu or slavic poetry.

The solutions to a problem are very very often not located in the same spot as the problem itself. A whole lot of issues only get solved by fixing up seemingly-unrelated stuff.

I need to have a lot more respect for non-linear processes. If I think my problem is in the head, I’m going to work with the head, because that’s the linear, logical way to approach it. But it’s not the way that worked. I fixed my head by diving into my body.

If you have an intractable, long-running problem in your life, and you’ve tried everything you can think of as far as running at it headfirst—try switching tracks, leaving that problem aside for awhile, and getting really , really into whatever pops into your intuition. Have you been meaning to learn everything there is to know about Indian cuisine... See more