Pluck Up Your Courage and Face the Music
Confronting a difficulty, most people usually try their best to make up for the mistake and may nag at their bad luck from time to time, but few dig into the root of the problem and seize the chance to eliminate the problem once and for all. Not many of us are used to retrospecting about inner factors when the problems happen, because we may not have enough courage to face our flaws and examine ourselves. Additionally, making up the mistake doesn’t mean that we won’t make the mistake afterwards because the source of the problem may come from absence of mind, anxiety, stubborn persistence, and so on, but we just blow it off and not put that into consideration of self-reflection. By following these four steps, we can see through the problems clearly and tackle these annoying problems at its roots bravely.
First of all, we should find out where the problem is so that we can solve it directly. In this step, we only focus on our problem itself but not the factors behind it. Only if we comprehend what the problem is, we can find out the solution. For instance, when we go to see a doctor, the doctor surely won’t start by asking you why you have this problem. Generally speaking, the doctor will ask you what your problem is at first. Similarly, in this process, we can imagine ourselves as doctors who try to diagnose the problem and fix it. Alongside this, people are usually poor at thinking of what the problem is because we rarely contemplate this question thoroughly but keep thinking of compensating the problem. For example, if someone spills the water, he or she will think of cleaning it up but not further review the accident itself. To deal with this situation properly, we should think of where the problem is primarily but not only focus on how to make up for the problem.
After finding out the problem, we can move on to the second step, which is also the key point of the whole process, to seek through the reasons behind the problem from the deeper perspective rather than a superficial analysis and to try not to blame the problem on others. To clarify, superficial analysis is seeing things from the
results instead of the reasons.If you ask someone why you spilled the water, he or she may not understand what you mean. In our potential recognition, there’s no reason why the water was spilled, because it just happened. Besides, there are still some people who will tell you that’s because someone passed through the aisle and spilled it carelessly. We have to avoid this kind of answer as well because stopping people from hitting our water bottle is not easy. But we can prevent people from hitting it. Thus, we don’t need to blame the problems on the others; on the contrary, we can take the blame and impede the accidents. To sum
Subsequently, we have to set up an ideal result for this accident; commonly, we should set up a goal for ourselves to look forward to. No matter what kind of the problem is, the ideal result is the opposite of the problem. For example, someone spilled water on your silk shirt; then the pleasant result is not to be drenched by the water. Ultimately, we can make a complete resolution based on the reasons behind the problems to achieve our ideal goal. Assuming that the reason is that we put the water bottle by the aisle, we can remind ourselves not to put it by the aisle next time to prevent this accident from happening.
According to the above, we can simplify the process into four steps. First, we need to find the problem. Second, we have to figure out the reasons behind the problem and not to put the blame on others. Then, set up a goal for ourselves. Lastly, make an appropriate resolution
“ We people are born to have the right to make mistakes. ”
based on the reasons of the problem to reach the goal. However, we always have to remember that not everything goes smoothly. Even if we follow the steps strictly, things may go wrong every now and then. Still, we have to believe that practice makes perfect, don’t step back and surrender to the problems because of a setback, and don’t be afraid of facing your glitches or flaws head-on. We people are born to have the right to make mistakes. When
being in the first step and the second step, we are improving ourselves and making us become a better person. There’s no embarrassment to pursue advancement. Therefore, pluck up your courage and face the music. We will turn imperfection into perfection someday!
Reference
Chung Tai Shan Buddhist Foundation. (2000). Primary Class of Meditation Textbook.
up, when the accident happened, we surely need to compensate the problem, but don’t forget to think of the reasons resulting in the problems. In other words, when we are busy cleaning up the water, don’t forget to ponder why the water would be spilled.