Acceptance vs. Resistance

What I learned from having a bad day. My last post was all about the bad day I had, how I got frustrated and let it ruin my whole evening, leading me to the conclusion that I needed a Bad Day Plan.
The concept of the bad day plan is awesome, I still think everyone needs one but since posting that blog and associated video, my thought processes have taken me a bit deeper. Generally speaking, this is how I deal with things I don’t like. Something stupid happens, I let it bug me and I get grumpy for a while. 

Then I think about it and try to figure out why it bothered me so much, what I could have done differently, and what I’ll do next time. When it doesn’t happen right away I go back to my normal routine and then I’m caught off guard when it happens again and forget all about what I learned the last time, analyze it all over again and resolve to do better.
Each time this cycle presents itself I incorporate another little piece of wisdom that brings me to a place of letting less things bother me or reconciling them faster. Through this repeated process I’ve learned to have more patience with circumstances I can’t control, to accept others for who they are, to forgive myself for reacting and to take full responsibility for my actions and apologizing when appropriate.

Ironically, as I'm writing this, there is someone close to me having a phone conversation (in Portuguese) on speakerphone at an inconsiderate and annoying volume. I keep loosing my train of thought and I can feel myself starting to get annoyed with her. As I feel like asking her to keep it down, I realized that this is the perfect time to hone my focus and concentration skills. Look at me practicing acceptance and patience!.

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Getting back on topic… When I explored what made my bad day bad was really just the frustration I felt regarding the lack of control over things I can’t control! Logically I know I can’t control other people, logically I know I can’t control traffic, long lines at the grocery store or the weather. So why do I let these things bother me? It doesn’t make any sense at all does it?

Watch the video

This is explained in more detail in my video.
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Yet literally EVERYONE I know struggles with this daily, whether they realize it or not. I’ll postulate that most people don’t take the time to think about it at all. In fact I might be the only one I know who does. Do you think about what frustrates you and why you allow it to frustrate you? I’m curious — leave our comments below.

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