The Joy of Problem-Solving | Turning Life's Challenges into Happiness

[Anderson]

This perspective on joy challenges the common notion that joy is something to be found or discovered within oneself, suggesting instead that joy is something we actively create through engaging with life's challenges. This approach emphasizes resilience and a proactive mindset, turning problems into opportunities for growth and happiness. It also highlights the importance of helping others as a source of personal joy, reminding us that our well-being is interconnected with the well-being of those around us. This view of joy as something to be "hunted" and cultivated through effort and persistence can be empowering, encouraging us to take control of our happiness rather than waiting for it to appear.

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Throughout my life, I often felt a lack of joy, so every time I encountered a new guru or spiritual teacher, I couldn't resist asking my favorite question: "How can I learn to find joy in life?"

Usually, they would brush me off with advice to "look within for joy." I tried, sincerely. But no matter how much I searched inside myself, I never found any joy.

This went on until one day, a simple question came to my mind: Where does joy even come from in life? Seriously, where?

When I felt lonely, having friends over brought joy. When I was broke, getting some money was a huge joy. If I was hungry, delicious food brought another kind of joy. 

Typically, we see problems and difficulties as the opposite of joy. We say, "I have a problem," and sigh sadly. But in reality, it’s not like that at all. As strange as it may sound, joy in life actually comes from problems, challenges, and hardships. Every problem is a unique opportunity to experience joy - all you need to do is recognize it.

Take any problem in your life and treat it like a puzzle that needs to be solved with whatever tools you have at hand. If you manage to solve it, you'll feel joy. 

Of course, there are unsolvable problems. But there are also plenty of solvable ones, enough to ensure even the most demanding person can have a steady supply of joy.

There’s no point in searching for joy within because joy doesn’t appear on its own, just like food doesn’t magically appear on the kitchen shelf. For joy to exist in your life, you need to cultivate it, much like how people used to hunt for gold or furs. The pursuit of joy is an activity that requires skill, persistence, and a bit of luck.

To harvest joy, you first need to find a good, "well-fed" problem. The bigger the problem, the harder it is to solve, but the more joy you can extract from it. A substantial, well-nourished problem can keep you joyous for weeks. However, even smaller problems shouldn’t be ignored—solve one or two, and soon you’ll have enough joy to share with friends.

But the most wonderful thing about the pursuit of joy is that you don’t necessarily have to solve your own problems to find it. Someone else's problem - even if it belongs to a complete stranger - can bring you just as much joy when you help solve it.

All good things in life come from something bad because there's simply nowhere else for them to come from. Each of us is part of a global process of turning bad into good, uncomfortable into comfortable, and ugly into beautiful. This is a manual, non-automated process, meaning that each of us is responsible for our own share.

So, how much good were you able to extract from the bad yesterday? Last week? Last month? For yourself, for others, for people you know, or even for strangers? The amount you managed to extract is exactly how much joy you’ll have in your life.

Or, of course, you could try looking for joy within. But I’ve already looked there.