Keep Your Calm When Irritated

During course of every day, we can find ourselves irritated by numerous experiences.    We all have experience of people who are so irritating that no one wants to be around them.  Other irritating experiences can be anything from someone cutting you up in traffic to an acquaintance making a derogatory remark about your favourite sweater. 

Sometimes, there’s the option to walk away from the irritant and you can depart with no more than your hackles having been raised.   However, some situations are inescapable and in those instances it is helpful to have some skills up your sleeve to help yourself keep calm.

• Close your eyes, breathe deeply,and hold the breath for a count of four and then release the breath.  Do this as many times as you need until you feel yourself calming.
• If the situation is safe to do so, take your attention to something other than the person or situation that is irritating you.   Look at your finger nails, your computer screen, anything that takes the irritating person or object out of your sight.   This gives you time to think more calmly.
• You cannot change somebody else, but you can change the way you choose to react.   Take a minute to look at the bigger picture.   Ask yourself whether this situation will matter in a day’s time, a week’s time or six months’ time.   Is this situation really worth giving your energy to ?
• If you decide that the situation really does need to be addressed;  Rather than allow your irritation to escalate, assert yourself, speak up.   You have a perfect right to politely ask the other person to refrain from being patronising, asking too many questions, being too loud or using language that offends you etc etc.
• Remember that you are not the object.   Most people are not trying to annoy you – they probably don’t even realise that the behaviour they are displaying is annoying.    If it’s traffic that’s winding you up, traffic just is and doesn’t and cannot care.
• Practice at being more patient.    You will find that you’ll stop feeling beaten up by time and circumstances and that you are able to take things more in your stride and relax more.   Patience is the key to minimising irritation in your life.    Think of patience as a tool that helps you to know what to attend to, what to put up with and, what to walk away from.

Be happy.

Jacqueline

I’d love to hear what you think ….. go on, leave a comment below.