This story was published in Six-word photo story challenge, a Medium publication.
Life is one problem after another.
Some problems are doozies — life-changing. Yesterday, I talked with George, a friend with stage four colon cancer. On some days, Katie does not know her life partner, Steve. Rick lives with a back that can’t be repaired.
I’m in my 8th decade in reasonable health. Occasionally, I fantasize about an older me, blanket-clad, sitting in a rocking chair beside a fireplace with nothing to do and nowhere to go, problem-free.
Two days ago, I oversalted my famous ham and bean soup so much that it was uneatable. Instead of putting the mistake into the composter, I dumped it down the garbage disposal. Yesterday, the plumber, after 45 minutes, said, “I don’t know what was down there, but it was sure stuck.”
Ordinary problems.
My irregular fantasy of a problemless life lets the cat out of the bag. I resent problems, especially the common day-to-day ones. Why do I feel this way?
Oliver Burkeman, in Meditation for Mortals, suggests an answer.
‘Problem’ is just the word we apply to any situation in which we confront the limits of our capacity to control how things unfold…[responding] is precisely what makes life meaningful and satisfying.
Further, once we accept this beautiful idea — the inevitability of problems —we can “unclench” ourselves for the more vital task of “living a life of ever more interesting and absorbing ones.”
Problems are life. And vice versa.
