All problems begin with a desire—the desire for something to be different, which is the ongoing state of the ego. The ego is often wanting something to be different. It might be a longstanding desire, like wanting to look different than you do, a short-term one, like wanting your neighbor to stop playing music so loudly, or a momentary one, like wanting to eat something that isn't available. Longstanding desires create a sense of a problem that can be very deep-seated and even affect our self-esteem and how we approach life. When a longstanding problem is part of our self-image, we may come to see ourselves as flawed or inferior. Then it really does seem like we have a problem that needs fixing. Even short-term and momentary desires can create a sense of there being a problem, which can sap the joy out of life.

The good news is that there's actually no such thing as a problem but only perceived problems. That's a very important distinction, because if a problem is created by our perceptions, then no matter what it is, we can potentially un-create it by simply adjusting our perceptions, by seeing the truth.

The desire for something to be different is natural; desires arise constantly in everyone. It's good to realize and accept this. Desires come and go as part of our imprinting as human beings. They show up in the mind, unbidden. Desires, themselves, aren't the problem, and you can't do away with them anyway. Besides, they serve our evolution, bringing us a range of experiences that we are meant to have as humans. The problem is that identification with desire causes much of our suffering. It's identifying with the desire—feeling strongly that you want something you don't have—that causes suffering and the sense that there is a problem. Either you want something you don't have right now but you might have in the future or you want something you feel you can never have.

Many other things enter into the creation of a problem from a desire. One of the most important things is feelings. When we desire something other than the way things are, feelings show up: We may feel sad, angry, guilty, or inferior that we don't have it or afraid we will never have it or jealous, envious, or resentful of those who do have it. Now we not only have the problem of getting what we want, but also the problem of getting rid of these negative feelings. The problem just got bigger, as feelings were added to the desire.

Another important component of problem-creation is storytelling. We paint a negative picture of the way things are because what we want is lacking: “It shouldn't be this way. I have to change this. I'll never be happy unless this is different. This always happens to me. I will never get over this. This is too much to deal with. I hate this. Life sucks.” These stories reinforce existing feelings and generate others. They also magnify the importance of whatever is felt to be lacking by giving meaning to it and by building a case for why not having what we want is a problem. We assume that not having what we want means we won't be happy or we are flawed or a failure, life is terrible, we are unworthy of love or happiness, and on and on. These stories can make even momentary, passing desires seem really important.

Creating problems is what the ego does, and it does it in just this way: First it desires something to be different, then it amps up the importance of that with stories. The feelings that result from the desire and the stories convince us that, in fact, the desire is important and necessary for our happiness. Interestingly, the stories are often not only about how important that desire is, but also about how we aren't likely to get what we want or how difficult that might be. Doing this creates the suffering, pain, sadness, and anger that so many feel on an ongoing basis. They want things to be different, but they feel powerless to get what they want, or they feel it's unlikely they will get what they want

Some people have learned to counteract this negativity with, “Yes I can!” and then their desires fuel action toward getting what they want. They become good achievers and problem-solvers. Problems created by the ego generate much of the activity on earth, but a lot of that activity isn't particularly fulfilling, nor will it necessarily bring the happiness we all long for.  And a lot of that activity has been very hard on the earth and its resources. It has involved us in the ego's materialistic and superficial values and taken us away from what Essence values: love, peace, connection, growth, fulfillment, and true happiness. When we are in Essence, we still accomplish things, but our actions aren't fueled by the ego's negative feelings, desires, and fears, but by a more intrinsic, true motivation. Things are accomplished that need to be accomplished, and there's a flow about that.

The lie at the base of every desire is that you will be happy when that desire is met. This belief fuels action. However, the things the ego desires don't bring happiness, in part because the things the ego wants all come and go—beauty, youth, success, status, comfort, security, money, power—and also because once the ego gets what it wants, that's either not enough or the ego wants something different. You can't win by listening to the ego. At some point, if you want to be happy and not be focused on solving problems, you have to see that the ego is a liar: It's telling you something is missing and you need that to be happy. And that just isn't true.

So, what do you perceive as your problems, what are you telling yourself about them, what desires are behind them, and are these desires that important? They are important to your ego, but what about you? What do you really want? Life will let you have the experience of problems and it will let you go after what your ego wants, but there's something else here that moves you towards true happiness and fulfillment, and that is who you really are. It's who is reading this and seeing the truth about this.

Problems are created by finding problems, by defining something as a problem, and there's only one thing here that does that—the ego. When you drop out of the egoic mind, there are no problems. The same things need to be done, but they're just done. You and everything else are still the same, but that's okay. This simple shift away from the ego to Essence is the difference between heaven and hell on earth. Once you see the truth of this, you have a choice: Notice how the egoic mind creates trouble by the stories it tells, notice how what it desires isn't necessarily true and meaningful, and above all, notice This that is able to notice all this, because that is who you really are.