The MONTHLY Motivator - September 2020
Overcome Frustration
Frustration is a painful, debilitating feeling that can often cause you to do things you’ll regret. As automatic and overpowering as it may seem, frustration is a choice. And you can always make a different choice. The habit of reacting in frustration is just that, a habit. Like any other habit you’ve developed, you can get rid of it when you choose. Yes, life regularly presents you with difficult dilemmas for which frustration is a perfectly understandable reaction. Other than grabbing your attention, however, your frustration never does accomplish much.
When you feel the need to feel frustration, go ahead and be fully frustrated. Then, be done with it and get on with making positive progress. Though frustration can feel awful, it is not entirely a bad thing. Because frustration shines a light on your positive passions. The only people who are never frustrated are people who never attempt anything. When you’re committed to creating real value, there is going to be some frustration along the way. So go ahead and feel that frustration when it comes. Allow it, accept it and welcome it. When you do, something interesting happens. As soon as you stop fighting it, as soon as you understand what your frustration is telling you, then you’ve gained control over it. Then you can make it go away.
Many of the little things that cause you continuing frustration can be greatly reduced or eliminated. It’s simply a matter of taking the time and making the effort to do so. The small frustrations are usually the easiest to get rid of. Because they are small, though, you may not have made it a priority to deal with them. Remember, however, that the small frustrations add up quickly. When combined together, they can impose a major burden on your time and your life. So make the choice to unburden yourself from them, one by one. Devote some time to ridding yourself of many of those little frustrations that can add together to drag you down. At first glance, it may seem like a waste to spend an hour or two dealing with something that normally sets you back only a few minutes each day. Yet if you can save yourself those few minutes, day after day, month after month, it can add up to an enormous amount of time. And by freeing yourself from more and more small frustrations, you free your mind and your spirit to focus on the positive, meaningful things. Find ways to unburden yourself from the little frustrations, and you’ll find opportunities to add greatly to the richness of life.
There is nothing that, on its own, makes you frustrated. Any frustration you experience is the result of your own choice to react with frustration. There is nothing that makes you annoyed. Any annoyance you experience comes about because you have decided to be annoyed. You can choose to be annoyed, frustrated, angry, and spiteful. You can also choose not to be. Imagine how effective you could be if there was nothing that annoyed you. That level of effectiveness is yours to choose, right here, right now, or at any time. All sorts of things happen in your world. You can let them get to you, and annoy and frustrate you, or you can choose to follow your own path. You have the power to be free of frustration, free of annoyance, free to accomplish and enjoy life. Simply find a more useful, effective response. Step back from the desire for instant drama, and work on creating some long-term positive results. Channel the high-powered energy of frustration into intentional, focused, positive action. Give yourself the option to act effectively and appropriately, and you’ll find you have no need for frustration.
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--Ralph Marston
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