Problems

​Some sayings are like gold nuggets to me.  They may not be big nuggets, but a lot of little ones equals a big one.  A saying I like that occurred to me again this morning is “most people don’t have a problem – they have a decision to make.”
I appreciate that some problems are big and require multiple sessions to solve.  But I think whether they are big or small they all require a decision.  It is saying “I’ve had enough.  I am going to see this solved no matter what.”  A problem can never be solved unless there is a will on the part of the one who has the problem to get it solved.
Sometimes someone does not even see there is a problem.  Others may stress and wish things were different, or try and change things, but that never solves the problem for the one who has it.  Changing it is up to them.
At other times I may know I have a problem, but the cost is seen to be worth it and despite the negatives I still see it as positive.  I had this problem with dope.  I have not touched it in decades.  There was a time I saw the fun and altered state as being worth putting other aspirations on hold for.  The thing is, despite it being fun it wasn’t worth it, but I thought it was.  I had not burned the ships.  I could go back and get it if I wanted.
That for me was a biggy, but for others there are problems which are literally life and death things.  It may happen tomorrow or in 10 years-time, but for sure the trajectory heads on a self-destruct road.
What is becoming clearer to me is there is often a point earlier in life where a decision is made that has life-long ramifications for the worst.  That is not always the case, but it often is.  I guess my thinking has gone that way based on what I have seen.  I can fail to understand, and get exasperated, but that changes nothing.
That is why I am strong on not only dealing with the sore, but the cause of the sore.  It probably ties in with another saying I like. “One swallow does not a summer make.”  It is too easy to think something has been dealt with, and be disappointed when it crops up again.  To me the source needs to be dealt with to alleviate the problem.
Often things that need to be dealt with are not easy, even if the will is present to make a change.  I think if it were easy everyone would be doing it.  But not all are.
I guess that is where my thinking comes in.  Finite solutions are good but limited.  My love alone is finite, but that is not the case for someone I know.