Life issues

I had a personal ephiphany this weekend that when we deal with our issues in life, the objective is not to solve them and put them behind us, because that isn't possible in many cases. We are bound to our life issues throughout our life, and they often will come back to visit us. Rather, our objective is to learn to acknowledge, understand and integrate our issues so that we have control over them and their affect on us, instead of the reverse. We must accept our shortcomings and issues and turn them into assets. Realizing this is very liberating, at least for me. I am no longer guilty for falling into the same old patterns and problems that I thought I solved in my past -- these are just part of who I am. I can now recognize them, and deal with them appropriately. It's kind of like having a chronic illness for which you take regular medication. You never get rid of your asthma -- you just manage it.