I have noticed that we tend to get irritated way too easily. A hiccup in our plans, rearranging the schedule last minute, the slow driver on the highway, technology that won’t work. Anything that causes us a little inconvenience just gets under our skin and turns our whole mood sour and our day is ruined.
Now, I want to say first off that it’s not wrong to get a little irritated sometimes… because it IS rough when you are stuck behind a really slow driver, or you are trying to get something accomplished and technology is just not working with us. However, we let those inconveniences bother us WAY more than we should. We constantly dwell on them and, instead of taking a deep breath and controlling how we think and look at our situations, we let them control us and our thoughts. Then we have a big mess. 🙂 We ourselves are miserable, and we also make it miserable for those around us. What is inside, what we meditate and dwell on, is eventually going to come out… and no one wants to be around someone who is miserable. They will be miserable, too.
It is impossible in this life to have positive thoughts all the time and never get irritated. We are sinful people living in a sinful world after all; but we don’t have to be in a bad mood ALL the time. And we don’t have to transfer that bad mood to others. Here are some helpful tips to try and reduce those moods:
1. Positive Noise
What you let yourself listen to has a great impact on how you behave and what you think about. It is very easy to get annoyed when we are on the road. With construction, crazy drivers and annoyingly long traffic lights, there is a lot that can mess up our day and our plans; and don’t even get me started about when there is a time limit involved!
So plug your ears to all the negative thoughts flying around you and pop in some of your favorite music… or an audio book. You are much less likely to be fuming about the length of the light or the slowness of the cars around you when you are trying to concentrate on the words to your favorite song. It makes time go by much faster. And don’t be afraid to sing along! Hey, when you are sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, roll down your windows and share the joy! 🙂
2. Smell the Roses
Nature is very therapeutic. Have you ever noticed how calming a walk in the park is? A hike through the woods? A swim in the lake? Try taking a walk when things start getting under your skin. Even just walking barefoot in your backyard (this is called grounding) feels so relaxing. All the irritating things we struggle with seem so small in the midst of the beauty in nature.
Try applying or diffusing some of the many soothing and uplifting essential oils. I’m sure you have a favorite smell that just makes everything around you seem brighter.
3. Talk About It
You know, sometimes we just NEED TO RANT; and occasionally that is OK. Keeping our feelings locked up inside is not always a good thing. If we are struggling with frustrations and we keep it tucked away it can easily grow until it eats away at us… or we explode. Neither of those options are good. 🙂 Sometimes talking to your family and friends about things that bother you is a great way to relieve stress. Be careful with your words, you don’t want to drag anyone down or make them desire to run away. After you talk about it, let it go. The more you bring it up the more you are tempted to dwell on those little details. Then it is a very slippery slide to where it consumes your thoughts again.
Pray. God will always listen and He is willing to help you with your struggles. As a side note… it may be thought of as crazy, but talking about things out loud to yourself can help a lot. 😀
Look around you. God gave us an amazing life to live; and it is a shame to waste it by letting the little troubles of the day get under our skin and make us miserable. Trust me, it is not worth it. Besides, we all think it would be wonderful if the people we meet every day would be in good moods for us. How can we expect something from someone else that we are not willing to do ourselves?
So begin with you (and me), and get out there today and start that positive domino effect! Spread the JOY!!
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope…”