Do you ever get frustrated?  Up until a few years ago, I pretty much lived in frustration.  Surrounded by frustrating people who did frustrating things…all just to frustrate me. 

Or so I thought.

And because I thought it, so it was.

Brian Klemmer said it this way: “To think is to create.”  Proverbs’ take on it is, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Here’s what I’ve come to realize.

Choosing into frustration creates frustration.  And frustration is a prison we build by ourselves, for ourselves. 

But there’s an easy way out. The great thing about the prison of frustration is that it’s a quick escape.  Choosing into something else – compassion, empathy, possibility, creativity, abundance, kindness, boldness, tenacity…anything else – instantly demolishes the prison and sets us free.

Today, when I feel myself choosing into frustration, I use three tools to help me choose into something else. If, like me, you can become a chronically frustrated person, here are three tips for when you feel those prison walls closing in.

Tool #1: Victor Borge

Victor Borge was an amazing pianist and humorist, and he combined the two spectacularly. For me, I am physically and psychologically unable to be frustrated watching Victor Borge. Here’s a link to a short video.

Tool #2: Brad Yates

Brad Yates is Mr. EFT – Emotional Freedom Tapping. Even if you don’t recognize the term EFT, you’re familiar with it. Here’s a link to a Brad Yates EFT video on tapping through frustration.

Tool #3: Meditation

This doesn’t need to be some long, drawn out, guttural humming thing. For me, it’s about 30 seconds, and it looks like…

• Closing my eyes
• Taking a deep breath
• Relaxing my shoulders and letting my head sink into my chest
• Counting to five
• Taking another deep breath in, holding it for three seconds, and slowly releasing
• Rolling my head back and forth
• Shaking the tension out through my arms

Do I still get frustrated from time to time? Yep. Sometimes I even get frustrated writing these weekly posts. And sometimes I shift that frustration into momentum that becomes a post….