In one of my favorite Peanuts comic strips, Linus says to Charlie Brown, "There's no problem so big or so complicated that it can't be run away from." I chuckle every time I think about it because it sounds like such a simple solution to a problem.
We all have problems. It's how we deal with them that matters most. Problems move through three phases:
1. The proactive stage, when problems can be solved fairly simply.
2. The reactive stage, when remedial steps are necessary to turn the situation around.
3. The crisis stage, when immediate action is required to avoid permanent damage.
Unfortunately, some people live their entire lives in the crisis stage, while others can go through life avoiding rough times. How can this be?
My good friend Nido Qubein, president of High Point University in North Carolina, told me that if you address problems while they're still in the proactive stage, it will prevent unimportant things from turning into urgent situations that divert your time and attention away from important things.
Whenever I feel overwhelmed by one of life's little problems, I reflect on a confession by Pope John XXIII: "It often happens that I wake at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember I am the Pope."