An Inconvenience or a Problem

Taking a break from the favorite places I’ve been to, I was having a conversation with a guest at the 9/11 Museum about how impactful the museum was and how it made him think of the bigger things in life. It reminded me of something I read a while ago about the difference between a problem and an inconvenience. So much of what people complain about are inconveniences: the train that’s late, being put on hold while on the phone, your technology not working the way you want, when you want, etc. We scream and shout and curse at the heavens or the person in front of us about these things, which, when put into perspective turn out to be not that big of a deal, things that when we look back at them turn out to be minor events, turn out to be inconveniences. The truly big things that should garner our attention and angst thankfully happen rarely, yet we (and I absolutely include myself) turn the inconveniences into problems by our reactions (or over- reactions) to them. I try desperately, when faced with something that begins to get my blood racing, to stop and decide: inconvenience or problem. Almost every time the answer is inconvenience and I try to calm down and realize that this too shall pass. I think as a people we have lost sight of the difference between the two and it is often reflected in so many of the interactions between people.