You Can Solve Every Problem

You can solve every problem.

I'm sitting on my couch typing on a computer. After pushing a few buttons, what I'm writing could be read by a good portion of the Earth's population.

Stop for a moment and consider that within the perspective of human history.

200 years ago, only 12% of the population could read. Today, that number is somewhere between 80% and 90%.

100 years ago, even as the global literacy rate was increasing, most of the world's population wouldn't have imagined a time when some nobody like me could get his message across the globe almost instantaneously.

And yet, here we are. I will push a button and most of the people in the world will have the access and ability to read what I wrote.

Consider the number of problems that had to be solved for us to get to this point. Computers, written language, programmatic translators, the Internet.

And yet, here we are.

While we can debate forever on the influence of outside and/or higher powers, there's one thing and one thing only that we can all agree on led to this moment in human history:

People.

For thousands and thousands and thousands of years humans have been identifying problems and solving them. Not every solution was the best, but the collection of all solutions have led us to today -- a time when we can have personal relationships with people we've never met face-to-face.

You are human just like everyone else who has contributed to progress over so many years. You can solve any problem you face. Your only limitation is time.

And when a problem seems particularly difficult to solve, remember the magnitude and scale at which humans -- people just like you -- have been solving problems. You just may need a little help from another person -- someone who can offer a different way of approaching the problem.

You can solve every problem.