It occurred to me recently (and not so recently) that some people need to solve problems so badly, they simply create them. My first husband is one of them. He's a good guy, don't get me wrong. Great dad, excellent professional, has a lot of friends. But as long as I've known him, he's been Looking For Problems.
Last night, I went over to his house to pick our youngest son. He mentioned a car part he'd bought for the used car I had just purchased for our middle son. I was surprised; we'd bought it in good working order and I didn't think anything could be wrong with it so soon. As it turns out, he has some sort of "code reader" that you stick in the tailpipe that tells you what's wrong with the vehicle, and he used it despite there being no other evidence of a problem. Lo and behold, some sensor or other was not working correctly. Ok. Well, maybe he headed off a problem early. Or maybe he wasted his money. Who knows.
When the boys were growing up, I'd often get a call from him, clutching pearls, wondering if this thing was a big deal or should we be doing that. Or, as soon as a minor problem appeared, morphing it into a full blown problem with a multi-point solution that had to be figured out right then (and often it was one of those things that, if you just gave it a day or two, would work itself out). It was exhausting sometimes, but I was grateful he DID pay so much attention to our kids.
But this sort of thing happens at work, in our relationships, in our day-to-day interactions with people. Let's create a mountain out of a molehill so someone has something to do.
And for the most part, that just isn't me. There is life to be lived and enjoyed, and there are problems enough that MUST be dealt with without creating more problems just to enjoy working out the solution. And I'd argue, sometimes that working out isn't all that enjoyable, no matter how accomplished you may feel afterward.
No, my philosophy about problems is more often "wait and see." Most things will resolve with little to no intervention if you simply give it a minute. Not everything needs to be dealt with, and certainly not the very moment you learn there's an issue or problem.
Have some patience. Give it time. And take a break from solving problems you created.
