Running in circles

Running

How long can we run from our problems?

We often choose to deny it, but everyone runs from their problems and idiosyncrasies behind the curtain.

It’s natural to be avoidant of something that doesn’t appease us and rather brings us discomfort, so why is running from your problems unhealthy?

If we taste something bad, we don’t want to eat it again. If we find someone annoying we choose to ignore them and similarly, if and when problems arise, we run the other way.

Unfortunately for us, we can’t run very far when it comes to problems. If you will, running from a problem is like running in the direction of the sun, but the shadow behind us gets larger the farther we get. In this metaphor, the sun is what we think is happiness and the shadow signifies our problems. Thus, the further away we try to get from our problems the greater they become.

The monster

Everyone has problems they want to escape as soon as possible. You may think of your own problems as far bigger in comparison or they may seem insignificant in contrast. Nonetheless, your problems matter to you and don’t need to be compared with anyone else’s. What we don’t want to do is create a monster out of them in our heads to the extent that our anxiety grows.

We sometimes fail to see that running from these issues doesn’t make them disappear. Instead, it makes us fear things such as failure, and loss and we develop complexes toward inevitable issues and problems that are bound to arise sooner or later.

Coming from someone who has tried running as fast as she can, it’s a waste of time and effort to be scared and avoidant. Instead, if we just utilize that same time and energy in detangling the complexity of our issues and facing them, maybe we’d get somewhere closer to them being resolved.

We need to ask ourselves effective questions that are aimed towards progress, such as, “What’s in my control?”, “How can I take steps towards resolving this issue?” etc. When we give ourselves a chance to answer such questions we realize that the monster that is our problems begins getting smaller. Now we can understand the root cause of the obstacle and overcome it once and for all.

Conclusion

Like I’ve said in other articles, we can also take great inspiration from what not to do, and problems are means to do the same. If used and sorted efficiently, problems can leave us better prepared for the future rather than confused and anxious about it.

It’s not possible to detangle all messes, it’s not possible to not create a mess at all, but it is possible to work with what you have and make the best of it. I think that running in an unknown direction can be scary, and you can be faced with many unexpected obstacles, but running in a circle is much worse, for you run into the same situation again and again until you burn out.