Facing Your Problems
Author: Dr. Wm. G. Seavey

Have you ever noticed a flock of birds perched on a power line? If it is a calm day about half of them will be facing one direction while the other half face the opposite direction. However, if the wind begins to blow they will eventually turn and all face the same direction, which is, into the wind. Have you ever wondered why? On a calm day the birds can take off and land in almost any direction. But as the winds begin to pick up they will all take off and land into the wind. Why? Because that is how they get the most lift. Their bodies are designed that way. Birds facing the winds don’t get their feathers ruffled. The winds simply flow over the contour of their bodies. But if a bird is turned the opposite direction with its tail facing the wind, it ruffles their feathers and they are off balance. It’s sort of like rubbing a cats fur the wrong direction. They do not like it. Of course all you have to do to solve that problem is to turn the cat around.

An airplane is the same way. It always takes off into the wind, not with the wind, which is a tail wind. Why? Because it gives them the lift they need to become airborne and for the airplane to fly.

Now what has this got to do with you and I? Good question! Here is the answer. You can only be facing one of two directions in life, forward (your future) or backward (your past). You are either facing your problems or turning your back on them as if they did not exist. You are either facing life, which gives you the most lift, or you are facing the past, which puts you in a downward spiral. People who will not face their problems always seem to be the people whose ‘feathers get ruffled’ because they are headed the wrong direction. You simply do not get much lift when you are going the wrong way. People who ignore their problems are living in delusion, not reality. Problems don’t go away. They are dealt with, as they become known. Remember that most of our problems come from our past. That is the complaint I hear from most people I council. Your past is always going to be there. But the best place for the past is in the past. If you are dealing with your past problems, your future doesn’t stand much of a chance. You’re allowing your past to dictate and predict your future. Your ‘oh, woe is me’ attitude, doesn’t give you the lift you need to take off and head for your future. If there is divorce in the family, deal with it. It will always be there. It is reality. If there is abuse in the past, deal with it and put it to rest. Do not let it destroy your chances for a great future. If the love you needed as a child wasn’t there, deal with it and let it go. It won’t help to harbor thoughts of the past and resignation to your future.

Most of the time when I hear the plight of so many concerning their past, it is always about how they were hurt. They want attention because they think they didn’t get a fair shake in life. But what about the other people involved in your past? My parents both biological and adopted didn’t show love, but it was because they were not capable of it. What about their past? What did they go through? We have to consider all the facts. Our past isn’t just about us. It is about all who were involved. My parents were not educated so they lived a minimal life. They stayed married because that was the thing to do in those years. You simply put up with each other. It wasn’t until I started studying success, did I find the truth about my past. Do you remember what I said success meant? According to Ancient Script, it means to handle effectively the affairs of life. What affairs? All of them. Deal with them and get over it. Since that time I have learned much. One of the most important is that I had to get over my own personal feelings and consider the feelings of those who were involved in my life. I had an attitude problem. As soon as I got over feeling sorry for myself, I moved on to greater things for my life. When you face the music, it might not sound to sweet to the ear for a while. But once you solve the problem, the music will become indeed sweet to the ear. I am convinced the reason I love my daughters, their husbands and the four grandkids the way I do and as much as I do, is because I let go of my past through understanding and not a losers attitude. My youngest daughter Karen said to me just the other day, “Dad, do you know what we are going to put on your headstone?” I was almost afraid to ask. She said, “It is going to be that you were the most wonderful Dad and Paw Paw there ever was.” “It is not going to be how you become a millionaire. People really do not care about that. They care about character.”
Here are some positive steps to take in solving problems.

1. Realize you have a problem. To not do this is delusion.
2. What you complain about the most is your problem. It is yours to solve. No one else can do it for you. Others can help, but the final decision rests with you.
3. Stop talking your problem. Talk the solution. Talking about your problems all the time is to pile misery upon misery.
4. Make a list of those problems causing the most trouble.
5. Prioritize the list, A, B, C and so forth. DO NOT list blue Mondays, rainy days and heavy traffic. Those are not problems. That is called living life. You couldn’t change them anyway.
6. Deal with A and leave the remainder of the list alone. When A is solved B becomes A and so forth. Move through the list with determination. Remember that living life will always be mixed with difficulty. Change what you can change. Others will take care of what you cannot change. That is their assignment, not yours.
7. Make a list of your blessings. Think this one through. What you take for granite is many times a blessing. Any day above ground is a GREAT day. Be thankful for where you are. Your problems are only permanent if you choose to make them so.

Ask your self this question. Has what you have been complaining about all the time changed? If not, you are burning excess energy and going nowhere. It is like spinning your tires on ice. You go nowhere until you get some traction. Some problems are not yours to solve. Some problems you will not solve alone. You will need help. Do not be afraid to ask for it. Stop trying to change what you cannot change.

A man hits his thumb with a hammer while driving a nail into a piece of wood. He screams with pain, but only until the pain stops. Constant complainers keep hitting their thumbs with the hammer, continuing the pain. They want someone to notice that they are in pain. As long as you continue to treat your past with negative reactions, the pain will never go away. No one notices a complainer who changes nothing.

The next time you find yourself facing the wrong direction and getting your feathers ruffled, turn around and face the music. It might not be what you want to hear at first but as you deal with it, it soon will become ‘music to your ears’.


I wish you the best of success,


Dr. Wm. G. Seavey
Founder The Winners Circle

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Dr. Seavey, America's Doctor of Motivation, has been teaching the dynamics of personal development and growth for many years. Using time honored principles and disciplines for maximum performance, audiences all over the world have benefited from his weekly Mustard Seed Lessons For Living.

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