Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Frustration: How can you fight it?

I guess nobody wants to get frustrated as much as possible. But frustration will always be a part of life whether we like it or not. We get frustrated every now and then because we always expect something good in return to what we do, act or say whether we are at work, home, with friends, families, simple gathering or even in our deep thoughts. We can never ever get rid of frustrations no matter what we do. But there are some guidelines that can surely help us fight back. And these guidelines provided by Dr Harold Sala from his book Today Counts will surely help us bounce back faster and be able to fight back.

Here are the guidelines:
1. Consult God before you make plans. It is here we often fail. Ignoring Him, we formulate our plan, then ask Him to bless it, or call on Him to bail us out when we are in trouble – instead of saying, “Lord, what do You want? Is what I have in mind in sync with Your will and purpose for my life”?
2. Realize Murphy’s Law is as exacting as the laws of thermodynamics. If something can go wrong, it will; so learn to plan ahead. If plan A doesn’t work, have plan B which will get you where you want to go through a different way.
3. Be Realistic. Some of our frustrations are the result of attempting the impossible. It is far better to have goals you can achieve than have goals so unrealistic that you are always frustrated.
4. To avoid frustration, act without reacting. If you can’t climb the mountain, then tunnel through or go around. But don’t quit.
5. Fix it or forget it. If your car is a source of frustration, park it and walk, get a new one or buy a bicycle. But if you can fix it, ask God for the grace to love it.
6. Simplify, simplify, simplify. When I was struggling with a computer a few years a go, my dad-then in his 80s-asked, “Wouldn’t it be better to just get a good electric typewriter?” He had a point. Simplifying life as much as you can eliminates a lot of frustration.
7. Refuse to let it get you. Put up a barrier that say, “This far and no further!”

Whatever life has to offer, whether good or bad, sad or happy, frustrating or not, we are still accountable to our own acts. Consult God all the time for sure He will never forsake you.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just don't set your expectations too high...learn to acept failure and move on. Besides if you ask God's help it won't be that hard.