Hi,

I hope this is a good day for you.

I actually have to go to New York today. The good news is I am taking supposedly a short cut. 99% of the time I take short cuts they turn into long cuts. Hopefully not today : )

Anyway, I am going to a seminar to learn some things to help reach more people dealing with bipolar disorder.

Before I got, I wanted to talk about why I am stopping daily emails on Saturdays and Sundays.

Basically sending the daily email takes a ton of time. People think it’s done by someone else, a company or a computer program. It’s done by me.

Over I think three years, I have never taken a day off from doing it.

The daily emails require a lot of thought, creativity, planning and setup.

So, if I skip these two days it will give me some well needed rest and also allow me to work on other stuff that goes along with building and managing this fast growing organization.

After much thought and talking to a whole lot of people, we agreed this is the best decision.

This doesn’t mean however that I will never send an email on Saturday or Sunday. If there

is something really important I will.

If you have any question in this, please post them on my blog below.

Okay enough with that, now on to today’s topic.

There’s a funny joke about two men that I just have to share with you.

One man is telling the other one about all his problems, detail by detail, going on and on with his

sad story, complaining… and then complaining some more.

Every time the other man thought the first man was going to stop, he would go on about another problem he had.

Until the second man just lost his patience.

So he stomped on the first man’s foot, really hard.

“Ouch!” the first man said, “Why did you do that? That really hurt!”

“Well, said the second man, it got you thinking about something other than your problems for a minute, didn’t it?”

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It’s sort of a funny way to get into today’s topic:

A different way of looking at your problems.

Because obstacles and problems are just a part of life, for all of us.

Some people just pretend they don’t exist – they try to totally ignore them (but, of course, the problems don’t just go away – in fact, they get larger).

Others just complain about their problems – to anyone who will listen.

Some procrastinate their problems until they have a mound of them, and then they’re totally overwhelmed by their problems.

And still others expect someone else to solve their problems.

But the single element connecting these four types of people is that they take NO action to solve their problems.

Effective problem-solving is crucial to healthy living itself, much less living with bipolar disorder.

That’s why I teach it in my courses:

SUPPORTING AN ADULT WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?

Visit:

http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11

SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?

Visit:

http://www.bipolarparenting.com

HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?

Visit:

http://www.survivebipolar.net

Then there is the person who proactively solves their problems.

They are solution-oriented.

Of these people came the saying, “The impossible just takes a little longer.”

These are the type of people that might try the problem-solving approach I want to teach you today.

The principle comes from “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff,” by Richard Carlson, M.D.

I read this, and thought it was an absolutely revolutionary way to look at our problems!

Read what he says:

“True happiness comes not when we

get rid of all of our problems, but

when we change our relationship

to them, when we see our problems

as a potential source of awakening,

opportunities to practice patience,

and to learn.”

That’s what I want to talk about today.

Obviously we can’t solve all our problems.

But we can solve most of them.

But we have to take a different approach toward them.

Ignoring your problems, pretending they don’t exist, procrastinating them, complaining about them, or expecting someone else to solve them for you is just not realistic.

If you do any of those things, you will find that your problems will multiply and NEVER get solved until you finally decide to take action on them.

But let’s talk about this new approach to solving your problems –

Carlson’s idea of having a relationship to your problems.

I’ve also heard it called “owning your problems.”

It’s the same principle.

What the principle is, is taking responsibility for your problems.

Then, it’s your approach to your problems.

If you look at your problems as an opportunity for growth, a chance to learn, then you’ll have a positive approach to solving them.

You won’t be so intimidated by them, and then you can be in control of them, instead of them being in control of you.

Then you can be proactive, and be an effective problem-solver.

How do you approach your problems?

Are you an effective problem-solver?

Have you grown by overcoming the obstacles and problems that you’ve faced in your own life?