Dealing with Frustration

It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. My Tuesday was like a Monday. From a miscommunication that led to hurt feelings and a few hours of anger to my internet going down most of the day during a big project I was involved in. My phone died twice and I stubbed my toe three times. My water spilled on my desk.

Before my internet even went down it was going so slowly that it took two hours to upload three short videos. Which then never finalized.  I let out a scream at one point and really wanted to throw things.

It seemed everything I touched broke, got lost or didn’t work correctly.

I stepped out of my office to get a drink and told my kids that it was a really bad day.

"But, Mom, you always say it’s not the day, but how you look at it," says my 15 year old daughter sweetly. Or was that sarcastically?

After eating some humble pie, I got out my gratitude journal and started writing out the little miracles and what went right. Like having the exact amount of change in my otherwise empty purse to be able to use the computer at the library. And the web designer being available right when I needed him. Soon I realized everything ended up turning out right even though it was a rocky path to get there.

I was able to finish my workday with more of an ease. After work I lifted weights and did yoga to remove some of the stress from my body. Later in the evening I took some extra quiet time to decompress and read.

As I got out my book Emotional Freedom from Judith Orloff, I broke out into laughter reading the title of the chapter I had gotten to, "Facing Frustration and Disappointment, Building Patience."

OK, I get it, I get it. Sheesh.

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Photo Credit: Suk Sim