Sometimes my days feel filled with one frustration after another.  But I know I’m not alone — if we were to actually document each and every time we felt frustrated each day, the list would be overwhelmingly long.  And that long list would probably cause us to feel even more frustrated that we had so many issues in one day!

I think most of us find ourselves frustrated with other people in our lives — why can’t the kids do what they’re told, my spouse always forgets to do the (insert weekly chore here), my boss sends emails about ridiculous crap, the neighbors are noisy — I could go on and on.  The common thread among these is that we want someone else to change their behavior for us.

I used to often fall into this frustration trap and it’s a quick road to stress.  Now, I’m working to acknowledge that other people aren’t on the planet to do what I think is best.  In fact, other people are usually doing the best they can.

To ease the powerlessness that can accompany feeling frustrated, I am meditating about having greater compassion and forgiveness.  And I’m learning to feel frustrated and then just let it pass by.  Because hanging onto frustration just breeds more of it, and it creates negative energy all around you.

Take a breath, see that the perpetrator is human just like you, acknowledge that you are frustrated in that moment, and then move on.