Kay:
Must be the theme of the week because today is Tony Robbins Tuesday.
Shi:
Another Robbins.
Kay:
Tony Tuesday, Mel Monday, Robbins! It is Tuesday, June 8th, and this is episode 372 and like we said, today’s quote is from our dear favorite Tony Robbins.
Shi:
It’s like our round Robbins. Alright, his quote is, “The only problem we really have is that we think we’re not supposed to have any,” and now he’s referring to not having any problems. If you don’t know who Tony is, get out from under the rock you’re living under and turn on YouTube and search Tony because he is an inspiring, larger than life (literally) fellow who has been extremely impactful on the personal growth and development industry and is one of our favorites.
Kay:
One of the first times that we ever heard Tony speak this quote was at the Unleash the Power Within event in San Jose in 2016 and I will never, ever, ever forget. I have it written down. It is etched so hard into the top of my book because it was so impactful to hear him say, “The only problem that you really have in life is the fact that you think that you shouldn’t have any.” The way that he said it too was so impactful because at that time I felt like I was drowning in problems and it all felt like, well, why are these all happening to me and why are they all happening at once? To have somebody finally say your only issue is the fact that you think you shouldn’t have issues was like, oh. It was so freeing.
Shi:
It’s a concept that we’ve talked about before, maybe you’ve heard us speak about it. Sometimes we get offended by the onslaught of life and so when those problems or those issues or those challenges that are coming forward, it can be really easy to get into that as you just said, Kay. Why, why is this happening? And it shouldn’t be this way and you feel like this problem is just disturbing my otherwise very peaceful life. But we’re thinking that all the time, the very peaceful life is maybe there for a day or two, but the problems, the issues, the challenges, those opportunities for us to overcome something are presented for us, not to us and that was another big shift for us from Tony. It’s indicative of the teaching behind this part here that problems and challenges are part of life.
Kay:
It just happens. It happens to everyone and fighting against problems or issues ends up making them way more painful. I mean, just recently, Kay here, confession session gang. I had 10 cavities. 10 cavities which meant I had to get half of my mouth done on one session and the other half of my mouth done on the other and if you’ve ever had cavities filled, it’s not fun. They jam a giant needle into your face. You are numb for hours. They literally grind out your teeth.
Shi:
It sounds like a sawmill in there.
Kay:
It does and then it smells bad because you can smell the teeth coming out. It is so nasty. Every bit of it is just horrible. But as I was laying in the chair just recently thinking to myself, I could make this experience so much more miserable for myself by thinking about how miserable I am in this experience or in my mind while laying in this chair can be somewhere else. Let me think about something that’s more constructive, no need to add to the pain with my own mental suffering.
Shi:
That pain is going to be there either way, but the suffering portion is the part that we choose. In extreme circumstances, it can feel extremely hard to uncouple those but in these everyday problem circumstances, this is where we can really start to build that choice muscle between pain and suffering and get better at bringing awareness into this space so that we can ask ourselves, boy, I’m feeling that reaction inside. I’m feeling stressed and feeling tension. I’m feeling like there’s this major “problem.”
1. I’m recognizing it.
2. How could I perceive this differently?
What else could this mean? How else can I use this? How could I learn from this? Once we start to ask those questions and bring forward that style of thinking, we get more resourceful and we change our perspective and we’re able to do what we talked about yesterday – take action.
Kay:
Problems are so natural that they’re literally a part of you as a human being. They are a part of your biology. Every six hours, you have a problem on your hands. You’re hungry.
Shi:
Your little rumbly tumbly.
Kay:
Yep, you’ve got to go solve the problem of your hunger and that happens very frequently. You hit a certain age and then you start degenerating over time and you start growing older which causes aches and pains in your knees and aches and pains in your body, and you can’t do things as quickly as you used to be able to. So, problems are built-in, they’re baked in. Welcome to being a human being. So, choose that suffering or maybe not along the way. Just like Tony Robbins tells us, “The only problem we really have is we think we’re not supposed to have problems.”
Shi:
Alright, that means it’s time for your quest, and today it’s Pick your Problem Quest, a choose your own adventure, and understanding your problems are an inevitable part of life. Pick one problem you’d like to practice patience with today. How can Tony’s teaching on problems empower you with a little perspective and maybe even a little gratitude for the problems you have. Alright, you ready? You know the words now.
Kay & Shi:
Let’s quest!
