Frustration comes to me often: in traffic, in the office, dealing with institutions that are not designed to help you in an efficient manner… sometimes I even get frustrated by my own actions.
The silver lining is that this gives me plenty of opportunity to practice maintaining inner peace, independent of external factors.
Realize that the behaviour of others is not the cause of your frustration, it just ‘is’. Frustration comes from our labels and expectations, not from what happens to us.
Realize that often it’s our expectation of how others should behave what makes us feel frustrated. However, behaviour is a product of the environment people grow up in, combined with the things they had to deal with that very day. As such, ‘how you would behave’ is a poor predictor of ‘how others would behave’ in a certain situation.
Feeling frustrated is unavoidable, but the earlier you recognize this feeling, the faster you can CHOOSE not to let it affect you.
As with all things difficult, it takes practice. Now go out and practice.
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