M ay 11, 1994 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age A6
How To Solve Your
Problems
R obert N. T aylor
One of the greatest problems fac­
ing this country is the inability to
solve problems. Indeed, most of us do
not have new problems in our lives.
Instead we tend to be beset by old
problems which have simply gotten
worse. But in order to better guaran­
tee success in life, you must improve
your problem-solving skills. In this
week’s column, we will brietly detail
how to go about doing just that.
#1 Be dialectical! The law of
dialectics simply states that every­
thing has at least two reasons for its
existence. Thus, there will always be
at least two things you must do to
solve any problem. Stated differently:
Everything has both a “mother” and
a “father”. Nothing is the result of just
one factor or cause. Therefore, to
begin the problem-solving process
you must first identify the “two” pri­
mary causes of the problem. There
will always be at least two causes.
This means you must always adopt a
two-pronged approach to solving any
problem. Further - and this is a very
important point - the two primary
causes of a problem will in some way
be opposites o f one another and so
will the two aspects of the solution.
#2 Attack Causes With Their
Opposites! this law is self-explana­
tory. Forexamplc, if you havea weight
problem, you know the fundamental
dynamic is that your body is storing
excess fat because you are consuming
more calories than your body is burn­
ing. Inother words, the dialectic which
is causing the problem is too many
calories and not enough exercise. The
solution is simple: Eat less and exer­
cise more. This may be a simple ex­
ample, but it drives home an impor­
tant point: You cannot solve or elimi­
nate a problem by attacking the prob­
lem. Y ou must attack the causes of the
problem. And you attack causes with
their opposites.
#3 Maintain A Balanced Ap­
proach! While every problem will
have two primary causes, the two are
never equal in important. In problem­
solving, “balance” never means 50-
by
50. You w ill normally need to do 70%
of one thing and 30% of another.
Solving a problem is like baking a
cake: Not only must you have the
right ingredients but you must also
mix them in the proper proportions. If
you do not, you will not geta cake - at
least not a good one.
#4 You Bring About Change With
Addition * Subtraction! Solingaprob-
lem is the process ofchanging a thing
or situation from the way it is to the
way you want it to be. The process of
change is very simple: You change
things with addition and subtraction.
To change a situation you must either
add something to it or subtract some­
thing from it. And since you will be
approaching problems in a dialectical
way, you will be adding and subtract­
ing. Just remember that all change is
brought about by adding something
to the situation or subtracting some­
thing from it. Thus, one of your first
problem solving question will be
“what m ust be added and/or subtracted
from this situation to change it (solve
the problem).
#5 Don’t Fall Prey ToThe Super­
ficial! That which is easily seen (the
su*erficial) is almost never the cause
of the problem. You must learn to
reason backwards from effect to cause.
Yes, you must start with the superfi­
cial. But too many people start and
end at the superficial. They devise
plans to attack the superficial mani­
festations of the problem. Then they
are bewildered when the problem does
not go away or merely re-emerges in
another form. The problem will never
be solved if you do nothing but attack
its superficial manifestations. Find
causes and perpetuating factors and
attack them.
If you want to discover more
about how to solve problems dialecti­
cally, we suggest you send for an
excellent guidebook entitled Super
Thinking ($7.95) from the self-help
group known as the Better Life Club,
P.O. Box 28422, Washington, D.C.
20038. This guide details the process
for solving problems quickly and ef­
fectively.
Camp Scholarships Needed For Low
Income Children
Donations are needed to send
children from low-income families to
The Salvation Arm y’s Camp Kuratli
this summer. Any size contribution
will help a needy child spend a week
experiencing nature and making new
friends.
Each summer, more than 750
low-income children receive full or
partial scholarships to atten dCamp
Kuratli. Theactual cost per child is
$200. Many of the campers come
from Portland inner-city neighbor­
hoods and have never before expert-
enced the excitementof summer camp.
Camp Kuratli is located 22 miles
southeast of Portland and offers swim-
ming, hiking, sports and arts on 120
acres of wooded slopes. Week-long
camps will take place June 24 through
August 23.
People wishing to sponsor one or
more children can call The Salvation
Army at 234-0825 or mail a tax de­
ductible contribution to: The Salva­
tion Army Camperships, P.O. Box
8798, Portland, OR 97208.
Jewish, African*
American
Relationships
Examined
Insights into a fragile peace in
Israel and the occupied territories and
a progressive Jewish response to Jew­
ish African American relationships
is the subject of upcoming talks in
Portland.
Ira Grupper, an active civil rights
participant, will be speaking to the
newly formed progressive Jewish
group and Oregon Jewish Agenda
members May 17at7p.m .at3914N E
Laddington Court.
Grupper has pursued civil rights
since his involvement in the South
during the 1960s. He has had on­
going discussions with A frican
American leaders on issues of anti­
semitism and racism. On May 15 at 7
p.m., he will speak at a dessert pot­
luck of the First United Methodist
Church, Fireside Room, at Southwest
18th and Jefferson. The discussion is
sponsored by Oregon Jewish Agenda
and the Interreligious Committee for
Peace in the Middle East.
Grupper made a visit in Novem­
ber to Israel, the occupied territories
and Jordan. The visits were at the
invitation of Yesh Gvul, an Israeli
army reservist who refused to serve in
the occupied territories, the Society of
St. Yves, a Catholic human rights
group and the Palestine Liberation
Organization.
He met with high level, PLO,
Israeli and Jordanian government
officials, Israeli peace activists, Pal­
estinian and Israel Jewish human
rights monitoring organizations, vis­
ited a right-wing Jewish settlement
and stopped in Paris to meet with
French Jewish progressives.
Gallery Space
Available At
The University of Portland
The Buckley Center Gallery at
the University of Portland has space
available for artists from the Portland
metropolitan and surrounding areas
to display two-dimensional artwork
in all media.
Exhibits run from three to four
weeks, September through April. In­
terested artists should submit 10 slides
and biographical information. Send
materials to: Director of Cultural Pro­
grams, University of Portland, 5000
N. Willamette Blvd., Portland, OR
97203-5798.
For more information, contact the
cultural programs office at 283-7258.
Ainsworth
Drug
State
Conference
Focus On
Caregivers
0/
11
The3rd Annual Conference “Sur­
vival Skills For Those Who Care The
Future In Our Hands” is scheduled
for June 2 , 1994attheGrccnwoodInn
in Beaverton Oregon. This confer­
ence is especially for owners of Adult
Foster Homes, administrators and
caregivers. Registration fee is $40
and covers lunch.
Keynote speakers include world
fam ous Dr. Lendon Sm ith “the
C h ild re n ’s D o cto r” and R obert
Reasoncr, Ph.D. former Superinten­
dent of Schools in San Jose, Califor­
nia and who currently holds the posi­
tion of international President of the
council for Self-Esteem.
“This is the premier event of the
year for health caregivers from
throughout the Northwest,” states
Grady Tarbutton of the Washington
County Department of Aging Ser­
vices. “Participants get a lot of cur­
rent information about healthcare is­
sues and trends, they network with
peers and colleagues, they can inter­
act with medical suppliers, hospitals
and trainers and they also receive 5
hours of continuing Education Credit
for attending the conference.”
Dr. Smith brings a lifetime of
wit and wisdom to the conference
and will present the closing address
on the conference theme. Currently
he hosts a radio talk show that is
broadcast throughout the United
States and Canada on Saturday after­
noons and has recently released his
twelfth book Feed Yourself Right.
Other notable distinctions include
being honored with a coveted Emmy
Award for excellence in television
program m ing and g uest appearances
on nearly every major television and
radio talk show in The United States
and Canada.
For more information contact:
Grady Tarbutton, Program Devel­
oper Washington County Department
of Aging Services 503/640-3489 or
Michael Roth, Conference Coordi­
nator at 503/284-3339.
M
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Phone:
1-206-414-5882
Free lucky piece with each reading.”
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Portland
OR 97211
503*282*0787
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Campus Tours
The Mt. Hood Community Col­
lege Advising and Counseling Center
is offering free campus tours on
W ednesday, may 11, 3-5pm and
Wednesday, May 25, 10am-noon.
The tours provide prospective
students with information about the
college and programs, student activi­
ties and services, tuition, financial
aid and the enrollment process.
G uests w ill visit a variety of
cam pus areas including division
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