Posted by Rebecca in Via Articles | 0 Comments
The Answer to EVERY Problem, from Bill Pike
The Answer to every Problem is Within the Problem. One example is found in Enterprise, Alabama and is a clue why the answer to every problem is in the problem.We all know that cotton and the south go hand in hand. In Alabama years ago a visitor arrived to deliver a BIG PROBLEM, the boll weevil. It had been living in Mexico and decided one day to PAY Alabama a visit.  It came to discourage all the farmers in Alabama, to make them quit, give up.  ALL THE COTTON CROPS WERE DESTROYED, A MAJOR PROBLEM.  As with every problem one of three things happened.
1. Some quit
2. Some quit working
3. Some went to work, with new awareness
Some sold their farm, some just moved, but the answer to every problem is in the problem itself.  Some would not change the way they work their business because it was all they knew. Some continued to plant cotton with the same results. It is so easy to quit or even quit working instead of changing what isn’t working.  Think of the person who just got mad and took out their revenge by not working, boy did he show everyone.
Some of the farmers would not quit so they planted things like soybeans and peanuts instead.  Plus they started to raise cattle and pigs and other livestock. THEY MADE MORE MONEY THAN THEY DID WITH THE COTTON. The real problem was nobody thought of doing anything different because their parents raised cotton, their grandparents raised cotton, etc. They did not have to think about how to raise cotton—it was automatic, no thought required. Â
There is now a monument in Enterprise, Alabama to the boll weevil and it reads: “IN PROFOUND APPRECIATION OF THE BOLL WEEVIL AND WHAT IT HAS DONE TO HERALD PROSPERITY.” See, THEY PLANTED PEANUTS AND SOYBEANS WHERE THE PROBLEM USED TO BE—COTTON.  Some continued to plant cotton because they expected different results.
HOW ABOUT YOU? William James said, “WHEN adversity comes you have two emotions, fight or flight.” What is interesting is he did not say IF adversity comes he said WHEN adversity comes which means we all have problems. LIFE IS 10% WHAT HAPPENS TO ME AND 90% HOW I REACT TO IT. Some of the farmers planted different crops and put their minds on the end result instead of the problem. HOW ABOUT YOU?