Life is full of frustrations and irritations. From small annoyances like losing your keys to fully blown life crisis’s that knock your life out of balance. However, when we boil it down the truth to being happy and navigating your way through life’s choppy seas often depends on how well you can stay positive when your anger and frustrations boils up.
What are life’s biggest frustrations?
According to research from Nurofen Express, people in the UK expressed the following day-to-day problems as their biggest irritants:
1. Your laptop/computer freezing
2. PPI calls
3. Slow Wi-Fi
4. Being stuck in traffic
5. People who take up two parking spaces
6. Public transport delays
7. Junk mail
8. Waiting on the phone for the doctors
9. When people chuck their rubbish out of the car window
10. People who don't use their indicators
11. Pot holes
12. Stepping in dog muck
13. When you hold the door open for someone and they don't say thank you
14. The rising cost of living
15. When people let their children misbehave in restaurants
16. Rude sales assistants
17. Screaming kids
18. Buying property
19. When people hold a conversation in a door way
20. People cancelling on you
21. Noisy neighbours
22. Reality TV shows
23. Road works
24. Middle lane hoggers
25. Your delivery gets lost in the post
26. Computer jargon
27. Forgetting your password
28. Council tax
29. People talking overly loud on public transport
30. People who cycle on pavements
31. Finding the start of the sellotape
32. When people start boarding the train before everyone has gotten off
33. Slow walkers
34. People talking in the cinema
35. Train fares
36. Ordering something online and it is damaged
37. Queuing for the self-service checkout
38. People chewing gum with their mouth open
39. Being charged for extra luggage at the airport
40. Mums on Facebook who constantly upload pictures of their kid
41. Getting stuck behind a tractor
42. Cyclists on the road
43. Paying your bills
44. Speed cameras
45. Motorcyclists weaving in and out of the traffic
46. Not having enough change for the car park
47. Twitter trolls
48. A partner snoring
49. Loud music
50. People asking questions when your programme is on
Of the 2,000 people that Nurofen researched there were a range of different topics and issues that left people stressed – everything from financial pressures, to commuter behaviour and dirty habits. However, the problem often runs deeper than simply putting us in a bad mood and physical annoyances can quite easily spill over and affect both our physical and mental health.
Production vs Reduction
There are many easy and practical steps that we can take to handle stress in our day to day lives and manage it effectively. Equally, however there are reactions that will compound and increase it.
Let’s take a traffic jam for example. When you’re running late for work and you end up stuck in traffic, your reaction might be to get angry – “why is this happening?”, “This is never ending!”. However, by reacting this way you are simply magnifying the problem and making it worse. You are making the problem seem larger than it is. There is no benefit to getting angry about things that you can’t control.
Another reaction to life’s annoyances can be to look for someone to blame. However, even if someone did make a mistake, their fault and their blame does not fix the issue. Instead, find out how it happened, what lessons can be learned and how it can be prevented from happening again.
Maintaining a positive mental attitude prevents you from becoming consumed by your anger and will help you stay calm. It takes time and practice but by focusing on the things you ‘can’ control and refusing to be harmed by the things you cannot, you will find that over time you become a much happier and more resilient person.
How do you maintain a positive approach to life? Let us know by connecting on social media at @TimeForYouGroup.
