I moved to the rural countryside this year. Throughout the year I watched, with great fascination, how farmers tend their fields and produce the crops that feed us.

I observed a myriad of agricultural machines that seem to serve no defined purpose very carefully. I watched as the plow prepared the soil and then the next appendix of the tractor that planted the seed. Another sprinkled the seed. Today I saw a machine scooping the tall leaves off the sugar beets and pulling the huge beets out of the ground so that the next vehicle could easily pick up the huge beets by the hundreds and move them directly to the truck bed for transport to the beet factory.

I watched a real ballet, everything silky smooth in operation. And I realized that the way a farmer takes care of his fields is no different from how we approach life’s problems. Hmm. A machine for each very specific task. That limiting method works but leaves no room for creativity. That practice also requires a lot of machines.

Most people create a set of solutions for each type of problem they encounter in life. But the problems are not easy to define and categorize. A single solution doesn’t work for variations on a theme, so to speak. So people end up frustrated and ultimately discouraged or even hopeless when they can’t find a solution that fits all the problems that arise.

Each situation is unique. Even when, at first glance, problems seem to fall into well-defined areas, they are actually more complex. Ah, but if you step back you will see beyond the confines of the boxed-in way of thinking and seeing. When you come out of the box, you will discover that the instructions, the solutions you are looking for, are written on the outside of the box!

Oh my God. So how can you find what you are looking for if you stay inside looking for something that only exists outside?

When you encounter a problem, turn to someone who has already solved that problem rather than someone who never came up with a solution but is ready to tell you what to do.

Free counseling is worth every penny you pay for it.