Early in my sobriety, when something didn’t happen the way I thought it should, I would sulk and pout, saying, “How can this be happening to me?” It would go on for days while I focused on myself and how I had been wronged.

The process of healing would be long and painful, as I focused all my energy on the problem and did not seek a solution.

The same thing would happen when a relationship ended, and I had a few of those. I would focus on what was done to me and how I was wronged. Again, I suffered needlessly looking at the problem.

It wasn’t until somewhere in my tenth year that the answer came to me, and it was so simple. I was working at a job I loved, traveling all over the country. I have commented many times on what it’s like being self-employed. Right after the year 2000, bugs were all fixed, the company didn’t have any work lined up for the next year, and again, I was let go. This time it was different. My anger at the company’s president was handled differently.

Someone at a meeting said, “When one door closes, another will open, but if you put all your focus on the closed door, you’ll never see those open behind you.” I made a conscious decision to seek a solution.

When I dropped into the local sober club, midday, the local newspaper was on the front porch. I remember saying, “Maybe my answer is in here.” After greeting the handful of guys who were always hanging out, I sat down and opened the paper. There in the middle of the page was an ad for Oracle Database School seminar that evening. I took it as a sign and went. After the presentation, I sat with a counselor, and he informed me how the State of New Hampshire was sponsoring qualified candidates. The bottom line is I followed through and spent the next year in school, fully paid.

If my old behaviors were active, I would have missed the opportunity.

I know now everything in this life is a lesson of one sort or another, and the quicker I learn the lesson, the faster I move ahead. That applies to every facet of my life.

Take a glance at the problem and immediately get into the solution, looking for what the Universe is trying to show you. You will be led if you have an open mind and the willingness to have patience along with a few prayers asking for direction.