How to Stay Motivated When You Can’t Find a Solution?

Okay, firstly what you are going through is not at all wrong and don’t let anyone convince you it’s easy.

Being caught in a turmoil of questions and no solutions is difficult. 

I don’t know your story but I have been through my share of bad patches when finding a solution to a problem almost felt like a far-fetched dream, with no signs of solution or progress. 

So before I reveal how a few things changed my condition, here’s a story I heard somewhere.

Once upon a time a man was disappointed with life and didn’t seem to find any answers to his problems. 

Unable to deal with his life, he decided to visit a wise man in his town.

He narrated his story to the wise man and said, “I can’t seem to find any solution despite of my best efforts.”

On hearing this, the wise man said, “Let’s try this. I have 60 camels and I want you to make each camel fall asleep and not wander off before you go to sleep. You think you can do that?”

The desperate man immediately said yes. 

The next day the wise man asked the man, “Were you able to sleep last night?”

The man said in despair, “Not for a moment. Some camels did sleep, some sat down, some woke up, and some just wandered off. I kept chasing them all night until dawn.”

On hearing that, the wise man laughed and said, “I knew that would happen. But here’s why I asked you to perform this strange activity…Some camels went to sleep on their own, some slept and sat because of you, some did not sit or obey you at all but eventually sat down with the growing night. These camels are like your problems. You will find the solution of a few automatically, some problems will be solved by your intervention and some problems won’t be solved even with your undeterred efforts. So, you need to let go of such problems and allow them to be solved with time. But do not live your life with these problems.”

The reason I re-narrated this beautiful story is that in life we are all faced with such camels. You and I both realize that in the end this is exactly how problems are solved. 

But when we face a new challenge in life we often forget to recall this thought that eventually the divine energies or the universe will conspire to help you solve your life’s difficulties. 

But it is easier said than done. I know you’d love to know how you can stay motivated when hurdles knock your door and don’t seem to leave your home.

So here’s how I have dealt with the time when I didn’t seem to find solutions to my problems.

How do I deal with life when I can’t seem to find a solution to my problems?

1. Look around you

This by far is the most useful way of going ahead in life when problems don’t seem to leave you. 

And I give my mother the credit for telling me this secret. 

I’ll tell you a story on how she taught me to look around. 

I was going through an undiagnosed health problem for 4 months. I cried to her and told her why is this happening to me. What have I ever done to anyone?

She replied in pain but composed enough to offer strength, “My child you are not the only one going through a crisis in life. Look around you, and you’ll see people in far more painful situation than yours. May be start with the maid who comes to your house daily. Ask her about her challenges. At least you are financial strong to endure this health crisis, it may not be the case for her. How about people in wheelchair after a major accident? What have they ever done to anyone? But now they are forced to that chair for life. But your fight has just begun. It’s not good to compare yourself when you are climbing the ladder, but it should be the other way round when you are in despair. You’ll be grateful and thank god when you find that your pain was merely a hiccup in front of others.”

And that motivated me to deal with the problems with a new perspective. Now, I always remember her words when I am caught in the dilemma of a crisis I can’t seem to break out of. I think of people around me who are in bigger problems, and some permanent issues that can never be resolved. 

2. Help someone else in need

Okay so let me tell you this. While I write this for you, I am facing a weird problem myself. Something that I never anticipated. I thought it was straight forward and wouldn’t ever worry me. But here I am, writing and discussing with you. 

So, this is exactly how I decided to deal with my state. Instead of wasting my time thinking of a way to find the solution(which I haven’t located as of now) I told myself, “What can I do for someone else? How can I help someone facing a similar time like mine? Can I send them a little hope?”

Short BTS on how I came up with this thought.

When I started looking around for people in more painful and tougher situations it triggered a thought. What if I can help them in some way. I may not turn their life upside down but offer a little comfort or a atomic solution to their problem or at least be their when they wish to vent out. And when I did, I saw myself sleeping better with lower number of negative thoughts. Yes, it helps…trust me!

3. Find a distraction

Disclaimer: You may not find this easy to do.

If someone suggests, just move on and find a distraction for yourself, don’t get angry at them they only mean to help you. 

Even I stress on this point because that’s the only way to deal with a situation when there’s no solution. 

Let me elaborate, while you wait for the solution to show up someday, you need an activity to keep your mind running and keeping you sane. Imagine the time when you had to solve math problems as kids. Were you able to think of anything else?

Exactly.

Similarly, your distraction needs to be a strong inclination towards a hobby or your present job that can separate you from your thoughts, at least for a while.

For me writing, traveling, watching movies, and working out seems to work. I find myself totally engrossed in a parallel world while the problem is still looking for its right solution in the universe. 

4. Gratitude Journaling

This by far is the most consistent weapon I have found. Guess what my tattoo reads-Gratitude. The reason I got this concept inked on my arm is to remind myself every day and night while brushing in front of the mirror that my day needs to start and end by saying thank you to the almighty for the biggest to smallest milestones I achieved or the things I own. 

Gratitude journaling in the morning makes you start your day contented and helps you calm down when things go wrong. The words written in the diary help you recall the good things you have to get through the bad days of despair and anxiousness. Some days you may not have anything to say thank you for…but you can still feel grateful for the comfortable bed, the air you breath, the food you eat or even the internet that helped you reach this article.

Gratitude journaling will help you glide through the tough days in your life and often bring a smile to your face. 

5. Believe and visualize

Until now we spoke about things you could do in some tangible form. This one is a bit tricky but the most effective in the end. You need to believe that-

“There’s a lock to every key. No lock was developed without a key.”- Gaur Gopal Das, Engineer turned Monk.

There is a time when your problem will find a solution and you need to keep believing that. The more you keep faith in the universe and divine energies, the faster you attract the solution. 

Are you ready to let go and pull yourself together?

May be not.

May be you need more time to understand how to deal with this situation in life. 

But when you don’t feel like doing the things we discussed above ask yourself this, “Am I ready to ruin my life? Am I ready to add more problems? Am I ready to wait for more solutions?”

Exactly the state I don’t want you to be in. 

Not taking care of yourself and suffering psychologically will bring you only more trouble–anxiety, loss of appetite, poor sleep, etc.

And you may end up inviting a few unsolicited health problems. 

Well, if you love yourself a little, you may want to choose to stay motivated and cultivate positive thoughts during the bad phases of your life. And that means you need to choose a few of the ways we discussed earlier. 

Finally, remember, no matter what your problem is, it will always find a solution–some will come immediately while others may take longer.