Q: I have eighteen problems and I feel terrible about all of them. What do I do?

A:

First of all, work on the insides. Use the Steps to get rid of all resentment, fear, guilt, and shame. If you do that, most of the problems will no longer seem to be problems. If you change inside, not only will you perceive your situation differently, but many of your circumstances will automatically change, because people are responding to you differently. The few problems that remain will look different and command a different response than they otherwise would have. Also, once you're at peace, problems that are currently invisible but do need dealing with practically will emerge.

If you act while you're still disturbed, the action will either create new problems (because you're responding to situations that do not need your interference) or will misfire (because the disturbance is causing you to misperceive the situation). Meanwhile, you'll miss the mark, because the invisible problems will remain invisible.