Problems = challenges = the start of something amazing

There are times when it seems like every day a new problem arises and your entire life is nothing but problem solving. At the moment our apartment is being renovated, so we have to live in a little room with almost no dishes and no Wifi – which is why I can’t update this blog as often as I want to. Every day small problems come up which we have to take care of which mostly is entirely possible but also time consuming, tedious and frustrating.

And then there are still the big problems which bring shadows to our days like huge clouds in the summer sky. My boyfriend’s visa is expiring soon and it’s still not sure if he will get a position which will enable him to stay in Germany. If not, I will have to follow him to the US, which again brings even more problems: Can I find a job? Will I get a visa? Can I really throw everything here (my studies, my apartment, my friends, my family) away from one day to the other and start anew? To say it scares the shit out of me is an understatement.

But at the same time I know that we will find a way because this is what we do. There’s always a way and if you really want something, you will get it – if you make the necessary sacrifices and fight through tough times. But this is life. I you want something, you have to fight for it.

I keep thinking about a quote from The Marian movie (which is fantastic by the way) based on a book by Andy Weir. The hero Mark Watney is stranded by himself on Mars and has to find a way to survive on a planet which is deadly in so many ways. The way he makes his disastrous situation work is truly inspiring. Yes, Mark Watney is my idol (regardless of the fact that he is fictional).

At the end of the movie he tells his students:

“At some point, everything’s gonna go south on you and you’re going to say, this is it. This is how I end. Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work. That’s all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem and you solve the next one, and then the next. And if you solve enough problems, you get to go home.” (Mark Watney, The Martian)

This is very much the essence of life. Life will always be full of problems and you will have to solve one problem after the next in order to move forward. The trick is to not let the problems cloud your entire life. Because if you look close enough, amongst all these problems you can see moments of pure magic: hours spent with your lover watching the night sky, afternoons laughing and drinking coffee with your friends, an inspiring book, a mind blowing movie, the wind which blows though your hair when you stand on a bridge in your home town, bright flowers, bonfires, hikes through the forest, hot chocolate with marshmallows, a beautiful dream. Those are the moments we are living for.

Problems are also challenges. They are a chance to grow and to fight through the storm in order to come out of it as a stronger version of yourself. Problems ask for new ways of thinking, for creative solutions and for change. And yes, change is terrifying, but it can also be the start of something amazing.