Serenity Welcome Homepage

Problems?

Once, a woman decided to throw a problem-exchange party. As guests arrived, they shed all their personal problems and tossed them onto a pile with everyone else's.

After all had discussed their own problems for others to hear, the party ended with guests selecting from the problem pile those they wished to carry away.

Each person left with the same troubles he or she had brought to the party.

We who worry a great deal about our problems are always sure no one else has troubles as bad as ours.

Too often, we complain, "If you had my problems, you'd really hurt." Our problems are tailored to us, and geared to help us learn by solving them. No one else's would be quite right.

When we cope with problems, rather than wailing about them, we discover that our own are minor irritations compared to those we see in others.

Into each life some rain must fall.

Some days must be dark and dreary.

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Coping with problems and weathering troubled times is part of life. Those of us who have survived painful experiences have a duty to help younger ones prepare to face bad times by sharing the solutions we found.

When stormy weather comes, we need to feel we are like other people.

It's not that misery loves company, but that we don't want to feel we're in this alone.

We will never have perfect living conditions. The only place where every day is a sunny one is in the desert.

When pain comes, we can walk through our problems and settle things quickly, rather than prolonging the hurt by battling our way around the obstacles in an effort to avoid them.

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01/25/2004

( Permission to use the copyrighted images of Jean-Paul Avisse is licensed from Prestige Art Galleries, Inc. )

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