“The greatest and most important problems of life are all in a certain sense unsolvable. They cannot be solved, only outgrown.”  –C.G. Jung

Seeking to understand the human experience is a worthwhile pursuit for anyone, especially a future healer. Recently I have been thinking about a concept put forth by Carl Jung, that our problems are never really solved, but rather outgrown.

When the idea was posited to me in conversation, I initially resisted. That’s not true, I thought. I solve my problems. Then I considered it further and realized I don’t. At least, not the big ones. My angst over middle school crushes. My loneliness after college. My yearning for freedom and creative outlets during corporate jobs. My distress over familial relationships.

We all know the reality of having certain struggles that plagued specific chapters of our lives, only to look back and wonder why we ever put so much emotional energy into it. I never ‘solved’ the problem of my complete agony over a middle school crush (things did not work out favorably for me), but obviously now it is a non-issue — at most something I get a good laugh at. As Jung continued, “some higher or wider interest arose on the person’s horizon, and through this widening of view, the unsolvable problem lost its urgency. It was not solved logically on its own terms, but faded out when confronted with a new and stronger life-tendency.”

What is the lesson for the taking? I don’t know, and I assume there are many, but my initial thought is that it may be better to focus on self-growth and character than to ruminate on solving acute problems themselves. Granted, the agony of whatever problem I am currently facing is itself the opportunity to do this. The pain will still be felt and there is no shortcut to true wisdom. But perhaps the pain will have its edge taken away once the inner agony is put in the perspective of a tool to help me grow into the next iteration of myself.

There is a suitable quote I once read that I cannot find at the moment, but the concept is something like this: If you treat life as a way to acquire pleasure and success, you will view the path as hard and painstaking. However, if you treat life as a training ground on which to build your eternal character, you may find that the path — all of a sudden — becomes a little lighter. What a beautiful invitation.

Learn more about NUHS’ Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine program here.