There is Always a Solution

There is Always a Solution

1988 3 March 6-8 There is Always a Solution (1176) Adaptability and the willingness to compromise in the face of difficult and changing sets of circumstances have been shown over and over again to be the keys to successful living.

There is a saying that if you change yourself, your luck will change automatically. This is no doubt what T.S. Eliot had in mind when he suggested that if you find yourself in a hole, you should turn yourself into a ball.

Living in this world means facing a variety of problems – some created by nature, others by human beings. Whatever the nature of the problem, the wise man does not solve it in a direct, confrontational way. He is circumspect in his approach, and makes due concessions to external circumstances which are beyond normal, human control. He avoids the kind of head-on approach which causes friction and builds up tension. Taking care not to be over-rigid in his attitudes, he is always on the look-out for the best via media. If he ever resorts to fighting, it is out at the sheer necessity to defend himself. Adaptability and the willingness to compromise in the face of difficult and changing sets of circumstances have been shown over and over again to be the keys to successful living.

Japan, in this respect, is one of the shining examples of modern times. Often rocked by earthquakes, it is a country which had suffered great losses in terms of life and property. But then, the Japanese, realizing that an earthquake is a cataclysmic happening over which no one can have any control, began building with wood, bamboo and other light weight materials instead of brick and stone, so that there would be less danger to human life if whole buildings collapsed, and material losses would in general be minimized. It was simply a question of bowing to the superior forces of nature.

In the world of the automobile, the name Toyota (a superior type of Japanese car) has become almost a household word. But, fifteen years ago, the Toyota company manufactured not cars, but textiles. The business, however, was not a success, partly because Japan does not produce its own raw materials, and a point came when it was considered necessary to stop production. But the Toyota company, instead of closing down and going out of business, switched to the motor car industry, in which there were greater opportunities, and now there are few roads in the world on which Toyota cars are not to be seen. Their success was like that of the man who, at first, cannot make an entry into the field of his choice by jumping over high walls, but who later achieves his goal by learning how to enter through locked doors.

A similar tale is that of one of Japan’s four big daily newspapers, which, having run into serious losses, was faced with ultimate closure. But the Japanese are highly appreciative of their national journalism and consider it almost a sacred duty to keep it alive. Companies and semi-official institutions, therefore, began to give it large-scale advertisements on a regular basis and a Japanese bank advanced it a sizeable loan, with repayment on an easy installment plan. But the most remarkable assistance came from the newspaper employees themselves. They told the management that the statutory increment in their salary should be withheld until the paper’s finances stabilized. With everyone rallying round in this way, the newspaper soon re-established its position in national journalism. Had everyone adopted the attitude of rats leaving a sinking ship, the newspaper would certainly have had to close its doors. It is a true saying that ‘by helping others, one helps oneself.’ Once the exact nature of a problem is understood, and we are willing to make strenuous efforts – sometimes on a very long-term basis – towards resolving it, a just solution can always be found. Take the case of the world-famous boxing champion, Cassius Clay – known later in his career as Mohammed Ali – who, from quite humble circumstances, rose to a position of remarkable eminence. One of his early recollections, when he was a boy of 12, was of watching shiny, luxurious cars speeding along the highways, and then, one day, of his asking his father why they didn’t have a car. His father immediately pointed out that they were blacks, and it was only the whites who could travel in such beautiful cars. “Dad.” he asked, “is it a crime to be black?” His father then explained that blacks were never given high-salaried jobs, and that it was as much as they could do to make two ends meet. There was no question of being able to afford a car. But then, seeing the look of despair on his son’s face, he decided to buy a bicycle, although he could ill-afford it. Young Cassius was delighted with this gift, and cycled from one street to another, whistling and ringing his bell for the sheer joy of it. Then he parked his cycle outside a shop while he went in to buy something. As he came back out, he saw a white boy riding away on it at top speed. He rushed after him, but could not catch up with him. Gasping for breath, he approached a policeman to lodge a complaint, but the policeman, seeing that it was only a black boy he had to deal with, turned away and refused to pay any attention to him. At this point, one might have expected Cassius to develop an intense hatred for the whites and have a keen desire to avenge himself for their unjust behaviour. But, instead of allowing his thoughts to be swamped by feelings of loathing and revenge, he turned them instead to scrutinizing the feeling of inferiority which the blacks experience because of the colour of their skin. He began to reason that no one should feel inferior to others just because of being black. He did, however, express his indignation to the policeman. He told him that if he caught hold of the thief, he would break his neck. The policeman, unimpressed, made fun of him. “Go and learn how to break a nose first!” he said. This ironic rejoinder sent his thoughts spinning. He decided to rise to this challenge, and that very day, he began to learn how to box. Now his triumphs as a boxer are known all over the world, and with his prize money he can buy as many elegant cars as he wishes, and stay in the kind of hotels where princes and heads of state are accommodated.

“It was actually my gnawing feeling of being backward, that gave me the impetus to go forward. “

At a recent interview, Muhammad Ali said that if his father had not made him aware of his inferiority complex and had not presented him with a bicycle instead of the car he was longing for, he would not have become a world boxing champion. “It was actually my gnawing feeling of being backward, that gave me the impetus to go forward.”