“When you are solving a problem, you are taking action to have something go away; the problem. When you are creating, you are taking action to have something come into being; the creation. Notice that the intentions of these actions are opposite… Most of us have been raised in a tradition of problem solving and have little real exposure to the creative process.” Robert Fritz from the Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life

As Robert Fritz points out in this opening quote, there’s an important distinction between creating our lives, and problem solving through our lives. It’s one of those distinctions the absence of which leads to much struggle and suffering.

Many people, I’d even say most people, aren’t creating their life but are instead dealing in one way or another with the circumstances of life. You could say there are two orientations that we can come to about life:

Reactive/Responsive Orientation where life is made up of a constant flow of circumstances that we either react to or respond to. These circumstances usually occur as problems we, and we either become good as solving or responding to them, or we’re constantly thrown by them so we react.

Many of us have become very good problem solvers. However, no matter how good we may become at responding to the circumstances/problems, we’re still stuck with the problems being the primary force shaping our life.

But there is another possibility, shifting to a Creating Orientation where life is an ongoing opportunity to create what’s next. And just like there is a structure and system for problem solving, there’s a structure and system to creating.

And we’ll explore it more fully in our next installment. In the meantime, I invite you to ‘purposefully ponder’ these questions with ruthless honesty:

1. Am I creating my life or dancing (effectively or ineffectively) with the circumstances of life?

2. What would become possible in my life if I committed to creating my life?

3. What role might knowing my life purpose play in making this shift from dancing with the circumstances to creating my life?

If you want to get a jump start on this last question, join me on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 2 pm Eastern time for our newest fr.ee Telesampler: Winning at Life’s Challenges.

Register in only a minute at http://www.wbradfordswift.com/lop/telesamplers

Every life has it challenges. What challenges are you facing in your life? Are you dealing with any of these?