Frustration

Frustration...ugh!!! What is it? How do we deal with it? Personally I have been having a lot of feelings of frustration lately. The dictionary defines frustration as "a feeling of dissatisfaction, often accompanied by anxiety or depression, resulting from unfulfilled needs or unresolved problems". That says to a T exactly what I've been going through lately with my job. It seems that on a daily basis something happens that frustrates me and I find myself angry, which in turn literally makes my body feel tight and tense. By the end of the day I feel exhausted, mentally and physically, and sometimes I just want to cry.

Now, I'm not telling you this so you will feel sorry for me....even though we all like our pity parties once in awhile...I'm telling you this because I know that if I go through this so do others. And as you know, I believe that this blog was created not just to help me go through, and grow through, issues, but for others also. So, if you have been feeling frustrated lately....hang on!

How do you deal with your frustration? I'll tell you how I deal with mine. I tuck it away internally and let it brew and simmer. Then when I get home I explode to my husband. Women call it "venting", men call it "complaining", lol. Either way, poor guy, all he says is "how was your day" and then the explosion happens. My nickname should be volcano. Now sometimes before I get to him I will deal with my frustration another way....I'll shop. I'll buy things. Yeah, that's going to solve the issue. Now, not only have I not dealt with the problem but I've spent money I don't need to spend and brought more stuff into my house to create more clutter/chaos. Retail therapy we call it. Well bologna!! It's not therapy. Therapy is something that hurts in the beginning and makes you feel better at the end. This makes you feel good while you're doing it and then worse later on.

Lesson here....trying to hold in our feelings, or exploding on someone else, or covering them up with "things" is no way to deal with frustration. In the long run it solves nothing and can cause more harm than good. So what do we do? If we can, at all possible, remove the situation that causes the frustration, then awesome! But sometimes we just cannot do that. In those situations we have to learn how to positively and productively deal with it.

I am writing this right in the direct aftermath of something that caused me so much frustration I just wanted to scream. I know my blood pressure probably went through the roof and believe it or not, mature little me, sat in my office and stomped my foot! Yes, I threw a tantrum...luckily no one was around to witness...but yes, I threw a tantrum. Then just as quickly I was embarassed and sad and wanted to cry. Can you say hormones anyone? Ok, now here comes the good part. What did I do? I stopped, took a deep breath, and I prayed. I asked God to help me, please forgive me for my pettyness and my tantrum and help me to deal with these situations better. I always have a little fear with a prayer like that because I think, oh gosh, the only way for me to get better is through practice which means I'm going to have to deal with even more situations like this. But the truth is maybe not. Maybe just the act of so quickly going to God in prayer shows a little growth and a knowledge that acting in frustration helps no one, especially yourself, and shows a little stretch of trust toward Him and faith that He is there, listening, and cares.

All I can say is truly, within seconds of my prayer, I felt relieved. The tension was gone. The desire to cry was gone, and yes the foot stomping had stopped. God is there. He is listening. He does care! Now my situation was not gone. It's still there, and I still have to deal with it, but my frustration was gone.

So the moral of this story is: How do you deal with frustration? Pray! Prayer is the answer. Give it a try.

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.