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Feeling a little frustrated? (To say the least, right?) We all get aggravated, and we always blame someone for how we feel. It could be the guy who cut you off on the drive home, your boss, the family, or even a friend. The first thing you need to know is... this too, shall pass! Anger is healthy, but in order to get past it, we first need to get it out. Have you ever noticed that when you are in an extremely good mood, you will let people cut in front of you in line... you will tell your kid that it was okay that he broke the lamp, and you're just glad that he's okay... you lock your keys in the car, and actually think, "It's not the end of the world"? When you are in a good mood, it's not that you have some type of freakish super-power... it's that you are 'choosing' not to let things get to you. The problem is that most people do not think that attitude is something they can control, which is funny, because most of us grew up with parents who constantly enforced 'a change of attitude'. Yet, as adults, we think our mood is determined by all of the negative external factors we experience throughout the day. Not true!
Changing your perspective is something that needs to be exercised internally. We need emotional triggers to help us exchange our anger for contentment. For instance, there have been times that I have had a craving for a bowl of cereal. I would go to the kitchen, take out a bowl, pour the cereal, get out a spoon, put everything on the table, and then go get the milk, only to find that someone drank all, but a single drop. Even worse, they put the container back in the refrigerator! In my head, I will think of every step I just went through - from getting out the bowl, to pouring the cereal - just to enhance the feeling of inconvenience in my mind. I will start to think of every inconsiderate thing that this person does, and begin to feel like this act is just the tip of the iceberg. I will build my case until I could almost justify some vindictive action that is truly not proportionate to the current situation, because now it's not just the milk, it's 'everything'. Well, let's rewind this scenario back to the fridge.
I pour the milk to find only a drop left. Now I think of some child living in poverty who would not care if there was milk, because that bowl of cereal could easily silence the growling, and end the pains of his hungry stomach. What he wouldn't give for just a half of that bowl of cereal completely dry! More often than not, anger is instigated by our own desire to indulge in self-pity. We all do this. However, by taking the focus off of ourselves, and changing our perspective, we can also change our attitude. When you learn to do this, you end up learning how to enjoy life. Isn't that really what you want?
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