Fellowship Fridays: Dealing with Frustration
June 12, 2009
This week I’m feeling a little crabby, cranky, cantankerous, and any other word that starts with C and means, “I’m not particularly happy about having to wake up at 4:00 am to manually publish my posts!”
Some of you may have noticed something a little different this week at Quest For Balance. Usually my posts run on a very regular schedule. They get published at 3:30 am, and the email goes out around 5:00 am… just in time for morning coffee. I like it this way; it’s comforting, like the old newspaper delivery schedule. But this week something has broken!
I have NO idea what happened, because I didn’t change anything. One day I woke up and found no new post. I checked “back stage” and it said, Missed Schedule in bright red letters.
Well, no kidding! I can SEE it missed the schedule… but WHY!?!?! How about a more helpful message, like: “This useless software couldn’t publish your post because this particular thing needs to be fixed. And, by the way, this is how you fix it.”
Now THAT is a message I’d like to see in bright red letters.
So, I did the only rational thing I could think of and tweeted out my little crisis in search of quick suggestions. Jay came to the rescue right away with a troubleshooting technique that allows me to at least FORCE the post out. Then Glen started hinting at the source of the problem, providing a few more suggestions which are still being worked on as I type.
My initial reaction to this frustration, which had something to do with throwing the computer out the window onto the driveway and running over it with my car, would not have been the most productive technique. So instead, I did two very important things:
1. I reached out to others who might be able to help me, since they have a clue.
2. I tried to find things that would distract or amuse me during the inevitable waiting phase… while I wait for this to get fixed, so that I don’t focus on feeling helpless.
So, for today’s Fellowship Fridays post, I want to share with you five blogs that I find wonderfully amusing and entertaining, and that save my sanity when I’m feeling particularly frustrated. Maybe one of these days they will save you, too!
Do you have any good techniques for dealing with major frustrations? Better yet, do you know what is wrong with my WordPress scheduling thingy, and how I can fix it? Believe me, I am far more likable when I get all the sleep I need.
Thanks!!!
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Posted in Fellowship Fridays, inner peace, Overcoming Challenges, stress
content rss
It only took one thing.
I was reading a book on feeling good. It said the single biggest factor of happiness in life was frustration tolerance. Imagine all the broken copy machines just when you need them, the bumper-to-bumper traffic when you’re already late, and all the rest of life’s annoyances.
All I had to do was expect them and raise my frustration tolerance. It really was that simple. I could frustrate myself or I could laugh at all the crazy and ironic crap that happens at the worst times. I went from frustration to personal amusement. It was instant. I haven’t been frustrated in traffic in years.
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You’re right, J.D., it’ s a matter of perspective, and tolerance, and what we expect. When I’m in Costa Rica I pretty much expect that things won’t run smoothly… so I’m not really surprised, or terribly frustrated when they actually don’t. Here, for some reason, I have learned to assume that things are supposed to work, all the time. So when something doesn’t it absolutely throws me off.
Sounds like the answer is the old, “Aim Low” slogan… that way we won’t be disappointed with whatever the reality is!
Again…I can comment on your post, but I don’t have anything particularly useful to say. You torment me by having these thought-provoking articles during the week, and I am left to just comment on FB..but then on Mondays and Fridays, I never have anything important or insightful!
You do this just to torture me, don’t you?
Thanks for the link-love, though!
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I do, actually Jay… that’s how I choose my topics for Tuesday to Thursday. I think, “What could I write about that would get Jay worked up into a frenzy of words that need to be shared on a day when he can’t comment?” In fact, it serves as wonderful inspiration for those posts.
Oh, but you CAN comment… on Facebook, Twitter, email… you can even link to the post on your blog and have an entire conversation with your readers about it. That’s the whole point: you don’t have to talk to ME about something thought-provoking I said… share it with someone ELSE. That’s how we get a big giant conversation going.
I throw out a topic, you discuss. It’s like the old SNL skit: “The Progressive Era was neither progressive, nor an era… Discuss.”
That sounds like it was VERY frustrating. I would have hated that! I’m glad it worked out in the end. When I’m frustrated, I don’t usually deal with it very well (think of a two year old stomping her feet…yikes), but I’m working on it. One of the most important things is to stay calm and to ask yourself, “Will this matter in five years?” Usually putting things in perspective helps me to calm down which allows me to think clearly and deal with the frustrating situation at hand.
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That’s true, Dani. You know, another thing that helped me this week was realizing that Starbucks had some software glitch that caused them to double-charge a bunch of customers. It made me realize it’s not just me, because I’m a newbie blogger… these things just happen.
I think it may actually be resolved now. This morning I woke up (at 3:30) to publish and the post was already there. So, unless Ali did it while I was sleeping, we may be back in business! Yay!!!!
Had a similar situation this week. We had a flood in our condo (from broken pipe in the unit above us), lots of frustration, and trying to deal with things that don’t work like they used to. It’s inspired me to figure out how to simplify my life so much that when frustration like this happens (kitchen and living room are unlivable, we are in a hotel during the restoration) I’m able to keep moving, and keep producing, and not feel like I’ve been terribly thrown off track. Good post, thanks for the insights.
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Russ, maybe these things happen on purpose to throw us off track just a little? It breaks us out of the monotony of things… the routines. Forces us to look at life a little differently (like, by the flow of a computer screen when the house is in total darkness!)
I’m sorry about your condo; but I’m also certain some good will come of it. I just know it!!!
Hi Lisis,
I am so happy that your situation was finally solved. Yay! I know how frustrated you were.
As for how I deal with frustration, I take breathe as deeply as I can and count to ten so that I can shift my perspective on it. Sometimes I need to count to twenty or even thirty depending on the source of frustration.
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Thanks, Nadia! Maybe once I start sleeping through the night again I can be as bright-eyed and chipper as you. For now, I’ll just borrow some of your enthusiasm.
My strategic approach : I just usually take it out on Hank (hubby).
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I heard that! When I say I haven’t been sleeping well all week, what I really mean is WE haven’t been sleeping… ’cause I always make sure to share my trials and tribulations with Jeff (at 4am). That’s what love is all about, right?
Oh Lisis, I wish I knew how to fix your computer issue. I’ve had my own battles with WordPress and I know how frustrating it is. I’ve seen your pleas for help but I just don’t know what causes it. I’ve had 99 problems with WordPress, but not that one.
If all else fails, I can help run over your computer for you.
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Well, David, I think this one issue might be behind us (crosses fingers, knocks on wood). But if I get to that point again, I will ship you my pc and you can smash it to pieces for me… like the scene in Office Space, did you see that movie?
There is a whole other dimension to WordPress that they don’t advertise: it builds character. Nothing like a little adversity and frustration to toughen a gal up!
It sounds like “my” (not really mine) fix worked then? I think the issue with it not working straight away might have been because you already had a post scheduled.
Glad that it might be sorted
Cheerio,
Glen Dover
.-= Glen Allsopp´s last blog ..Five Ideas I’ve Implemented to Get More Done =-.
There he is… my knight in shining armor! Hard to say which of the fixes finally “took” because, like you said, I had some posts already on the docket. But, I do believe, we’re past the worst of it. Sunday will be the real test.
Thanks for coming to my rescue, Glen. I know you’ve got a zillion other things you could be doing with your time… oh, wait, you just got rid of all of those! Now you are sitting around enjoying your free time, right?
Oh things such as this can be so frustrating. It is the unknown that is the toughest thing to deal with.
I am a huge MAC user. I just purchased a PC yesterday because my children are required to use them at school. Talk about no patience. I have none. I need to be on the PC versus the MAC commercial. I am sure the stock of MAC would increase by the time I finished the commercial. LOL
Hang in there!
.-= Tammy-Cricket´s last blog ..The Fading Daisy =-.
Hey Tammy-Cricket! Oh, the old MAC vs PC battle… I don’t think that one will ever be resolved, do you? I guess you DO know what it feels like when something is supopsed to work one way, but just refuses to.
I’m definitely hanging in there, and tomorrow I’ll get to find out if everything is finally working. It’s almost like Christmas morning.