How to deal with frustrations
This is a very personal piece but it speaks to many people whom I had conversation with in the past few months. It can be frustrations from work, family or relationships. At times, it can just be events that didn’t go according as planned.
Looking back at 2020, it is a year full of surprises and setbacks. Like everyone else, I had to adapt to the new norm and made changes to my plans. Unfortunately, the changed plans meant cancelling holiday trips and attending friends’ wedding ceremony. It also meant be away from loved ones due to the lockdown set in place by the government. Because of these twists, it induced so much stress and it also affected some relationships.
All these caused a lot of stress to me and what made it worse is that I can’t hang out with my friends to talk about it and let out my stress. However, there is always a silver lining and some learnings to take away as well.
1 Learn to let go of things you can’t control
When I was younger, I tend to harp and overthink of events that I had not done well. The scenarios will keep replaying in my head as if I could turn back in time to make the change. This burden ledge onto me greatly and it does affects my mental health. Over time, I realized that letting go helps me break free from all these toxic thoughts and allows me to move on to better things in life
2. Pain is only temporary
Everything must come to an end. Likewise, whenever you are feeling pain at the moment, it may be good to take a step back to understand that all these feelings are just temporary. When you are feeling frustrated over a bad event or got into a bad argument, just understand that all these feelings will go away.
3. Tell yourself what’s the worst thing it can happen
We often assume the worse scenarios without giving much thought of how bad it actually affects us. Take for example if you are being reprimanded by your boss for a bad work performance, in a worst case scenario, you are probably going to get fired but it does not mean your journey ends here. There are still things to look forward in life and it is not all about work.
4. Look forward to greater things in life
As frustrated as one can be, if you shift your focus to the greater things in life such as looking forward to meeting your loved ones, finding a new and better job or even take a long break from work to enjoy some peace and quiet for yourself.
In many occasions, it is always good to remember that you can’t control what happens around you, but you can control what you want to do within you. Meditation and self-reflection may be the way to go to achieving better awareness. Nonetheless, look after yourself before you look after the things around you.
