In this story, there’s one of the best problem-solving lessons that not many people know.
In a small Indian village, there was a man who constantly faced problems — at home, at work, and with his health. His life was filled with endless struggles and deep sadness. One day, he heard about a wise Sufi saint named Puri Baba who had recently come to the village. Since Baba was known for having answers to every problem, the man felt a glimmer of hope.
He ment to meet Puri Baba and told him how exhausted he was, how every time he solved one problem, another one appeared, leaving him with no peace of mind. He asked Baba to show him a way to completely end his problems and live peacefully.
Baba smiled, said he understood, and promised to give him the answer the next day. But for that night, he asked the man for a small favor. The task was to watch over 100 clay pots in Baba’s courtyard and only go to sleep once all of them were standing upright.
So the man spent the whole night trying to keep the pots standing. Some stood up on their own, some needed effort, while others refused to stay still and kept falling over whenever he fixed the rest. By midnight, he was completely drained.
The next morning, Baba asked if he had slept well. The man replied that he hadn’t slept at all because he tried but failed to make all the pots stand at the same time. Baba smiled again and began to explain:
“Life is just like these pots. Some problems solve themselves — like the pots that stood up on their own. Some require effort and hard work — like the ones you had to fix. And some won’t move no matter what you do. But eventually, even those settle down on their own. Still, you will never be able to make all of them stand perfectly at the same time. In the same way, you can’t solve all of life’s problems at once. Problems will always exist — some big, some small. Instead of worrying endlessly, you must learn to accept them, solve what you can, and keep moving forward.”
The man finally understood. He promised himself never again to let his problems control him. Whether in happiness or sadness, he decided to keep moving forward.
This story teaches us that problems are a natural part of life. You cannot solve all of them at once. Some fade away on their own, some require effort, and some only time can heal. True wisdom is in accepting what you cannot control, solving what you can, and continuing life peacefully.
