We are all living in a world full of problems. For this reason, we have developed a problem-solving mindset or mentality, naively believing that by solving others' problems, we could also solve our very own. Nothing may be further from the truth.

First of all, how come we beset by problems of all types -- health, relationships, money, politics, and careers problems, among many others? It is because we are living in a complex world with complicated people and difficult circumstances. Where do these problems come from? They all come from our minds, which process our experiences, and they become our memories stored in our subconscious minds. These memories affect how we presently think, act, and react. We erroneously believe that we make our own choices and decisions; the truth of the matter is that our past memories control and direct, to a great extent, our conscious minds when we make our daily life choices and decisions.

The explanation is the fact that memories, both good and bad ones, become our emotions, which ultimately create or become our problems -- even pleasant memories from the past. But how do pleasant memories cause us problems? To illustrate, should you have success in accomplishing something, the pleasant experience satisfies your ego, and that pleasant memory subconsciously makes you want to repeat your success later on. That creates anticipation, and the necessity for more effort to ensure the reality of that outcome later on. The process may generate stress, frustration, and also disappointment -- the sources of more problems further down the road. If you look more deeply, the root cause of your problems is your ego, which you want to satisfy and protect; Without the ego, there will be no expectation, and no extra effort required to sustain that ego created by your memories, and, accordingly, there could be no stress. Consequently, you or your ego will be the cause of all of your problems, and also you are 100 percent accountable for them. Let go the ego.

Along the way of solving our problems, we often endeavor to solve others' problems also, thinking that solving theirs can also be instrumental in solving ours as well, because we erroneously believe that their problems may partly be responsible for ours too. Again, that won't work. Why not? It is given that they, too, are 100 percent responsible for their very own problems, just since we are responsible for ours. To illustrate, the Russians tried to solve the Ukrainians' problems through military intervention, while the Americans strove to solve the Russians' with sanctions; During the process, not just new problems will be created, but additionally the original ones remain unsolved. Solving others' problems is tantamount to "controlling" which never works in real-life. To illustrate, if a stranger says something provocative to you, you in turn become angry; your anger is your problem, not the stranger's. You can't "control" exactly what the stranger says; your reaction may not even "stop" the provocation. So do not attempt to solve someone else's problems (the stranger might have mental issues); solve your own to begin with, for example reacting negatively to the provocation or controlling your anger.

Consequently, how do you solve your own problems without striving to solve others', or how do you stop believing that others' problems have become yours?

The answer is "awareness" or "mindfulness." The fundamental problem is the fact that we "allow" the thoughts of a past memory from our subconscious minds to tell us what learn to solve problems ( helpful resources - http://raptorx3.uchicago.edu/bbs/home.php?mod=space&uid=5090&do=profile ) say, how to proceed, and the way to react. Quite simply, our past memories unconsciously control our conscious minds. and we do nothing to stop that. Consequently, in the event the stranger in the above illustration says something we "think" is provocative because we might have encountered similar experiences before, we act accordingly to what we did before or what our past memories tell us. If we had no past memories of similar incidents, we would have no anger. We are all judgmental; our minds remember what we did before and our action or reaction anticipates the expected outcome.

But once we become "aware" which it was no more than a memory, and not just a reality, we may think differently with different perspective. Problem-solving is about "awareness" -- what exactly is the problem? how serious is it? where does it come from? is there a solution (some problems have no solutions while they are beyond our control)? what will be the answer to it?

"Awareness" or "mindfulness" allows us understand better our own problems and those of others but without attempting to solve them ourselves. For the sake of illustration, the aggressive stranger stated earlier might have had a bad-hair day under extreme stress (although which may not be a valid excuse for the aggressive behavior towards you); your "awareness" of your lack of information might change your reaction.

The bottom line: very often we create our own problems through our experiences, our mental interpretations of those experiences which have become our memories to continue to haunt us. Being within the present may go a ways to helping us have clarity of mind towards our problems without striving to solve those of others. Problem-solving may not solve problems.