There are at least two types of problems. The ones which are useful to solve and the ones that are solved to feel better.

Both may be worth the effort. Both may bring a solution we can benefit from.

There is a but.

Among the problems we solve to feel better there usually are also problems we’ll use to look away from the real task.

Take health issues.

Most of them need to be taken care of. Not all can be solved. Hardly any is solved instantly. So we’ve learned to integrate them into daily life.

It’s things we do.

Until there is a wake-up call. Until there is something that changes your assessment of the issue and transforms the way you act.

Suddenly the problem you’ve dealt with becomes overwhelming and seems to require all of our attention. It’s the moment to assess how important the problem really is and what focusing your attention on it is for.

Is it a problem that can be solved by focusing on it or is it a problem that requires changing your posture? Is shifting priorities allowing to push back on something that will pop up again, maybe even in a more forceful manner?

Sometimes, changing the problem you’ll address is there to be able to hold on to something we identify with. A view of self. A dream. A hope. In these situations, addressing a problem we can solve feels like the better alternative.

That’s valid for health issues too.

Shifting priorities then might have been an unconscious decision, one that acknowledges that the thing we are holding on to may be threatened would we address the real problem.

It takes courage to see what we are holding on to.