21DPC Day 3 – What is One Thing That Has Been Frustrating You Lately? How Can You Overcome It?

This is Day 3 of the 21-Day Positivity Challenge held in March 2012, where we work on being positive for 21 days. The challenge is now over but you can do the tasks in your own time. Visit the overview page for all the challenge tasks.

Happy girl in the field

Hello everyone, and welcome to Day 3 of the 21-Day Positivity Challenge (21DPC)! :D We now have over *500* official participants on the challenge!

Important: Sign Up First Before Reading Any Further

If you’re new to 21-Day Positivity Challenge, or you have not signed up yet (your name should be in the official participants list), please read the announcement post and sign up first before going any further: 21-Day Positivity Challenge. All details on the challenge, what to expect, and how to sign up can be found at the post.

If you have already duly completed the 3 sign up steps, your name will be added in the next 24 hours. ♥ Thank you!

For those of you who are already signed up – If you feel like this challenge has already bringing you positivity (and it’s only been 2 days, yo! ♥), why not invite a friend, family member, or colleague to join us? The more people we have on the challenge, the better! Simply direct them to the challenge announcement page here: Join the 21-Day Positivity Challenge

Update March 21: The challenge is now officially over, but you are more than welcome to do it in your personal space. Check out all posts made during the challenge: 21DPC Overview.

21DPC Day 3 Question

Today’s positivity question is:

What is One Thing That Has Been Frustrating You Lately?

… and

How Can You Overcome It?

Angry boy

Here is a related article on dealing with daily setbacks which you may find useful in dealing with your current frustration:

And the manifesto version, if you wish to have the tips available in an easy-to-read, poster form:

Your Task for Today:

  1. Reflect and answer today’s questions. Write as few or as many words as needed to fully express your thoughts. There is no word limit. Answer both questions, and not just the first question.
  2. For the step(s) you identified to overcome your frustration, put it into motion. Start with a baby step today, then go on from there.
  3. Identify at least one positive thing about your day. It may be something small or something big – as long as you deem it as something positive, it counts. If you have more than 1 thing to share, then by all means, go for it!

Share Your Answers!

After you are done, share your answers in the comments area!

If you’re doing this at the start of the day, you can post your answer for today’s question first, then work on your positivity task throughout the day, then return at the end of the day to share your results for your positivity task and your end-of-day positive reflection.

Check out other participants’ answers. Pick 1-2 participants’ answers and make a meaningful reply to them. Engage in the discussions. This is a group course, so let’s support each other in these 21 days!

Look forward to reading your responses!

(Images: Happy girl in the field, Angry boy)

235 comments
  1. Nikki Jeske 13 years ago

    I’m going to make this short. I’m currently frustrated by several things. One being the state of our house. We moved into this current house last May (almost a year ago), and we’re still not completely unpacked. This is partly my fault since I hate unpacking and I generally don’t get home until it’s time for dinner and freelance work anyway so I procrastinate on it. But it needs to get done and it’s one of my resolutions. Which leads into another resolution. ORGANIZATION! I mentioned a few entries back that my co-worker is helping me get organized. I’m hoping to take what I learn from her and turn it around on my house and try to get it organized as well. It’ll get there. Slowly but surely. One step at a time.

    Another thing I’m frustrated with is my inability to pick up a pencil and draw. I get all excited to and then as soon as I open a blank page in my sketchbook, WHAM. Nothing. It’s frustrating. Anyone have any tips on how to get past artist’s block? So far, I’m failing miserably. I’d love some input.

    One positive thing: The whole day today was kind of wasted because I had a run-in with some shrimp in the early afternoon as we wandered around Sam’s Club trying samples. This wouldn’t be a problem if I was allergic. Which I am. While this absolutely sucks and made me want to shoot myself in the head because of the pain and the whole I-Can’t-Breath issues I was having, it did lead to several positive things.

    1) We remembered to pick up Benadryl at the store. We’ve been out for awhile.
    2) Because I’m sensitive to Benadryl and its sleepy side effects, I took a 17 hour nap. I think I’m FINALLY caught up on my sleep.
    …and…
    3) It reminded me how absolutely wonderful my girlfriend is. As soon as she realized what was happening, she grabbed my hand, got a big bottle of Benadryl, had it open and made me take some before we even got out of the store. As soon as we got home, I was already mostly out of it, so she put me to bed and took care of all the chores for the day and fed all the animals by herself (which is a huge feat by itself considering all the mouths we feed every night). She is just amazing, that girl.

    So while I was pretty much out of it, good things came out of the whole ordeal. That’s positivity.

    Oh, and before all that happened, I got to go to REI and pick up my brand new Vibram FiveFingers. Hell yes. So happy to start running again.

  2. CourtneyLR 13 years ago

    One thing that has been frustrating me lately is my tendency to be “addicted to love”. I can’t seem to just enjoy relationships for what they are. My mind tends to run away with lots of fantasies, and create expectations like things you see in movies or read in books. When things inevitably fail to meet these high expectations, I feel like it is my fault, as though I’m not interesting enough or attractive enough to solicit such dramatic responses. I often don’t see people for who they are. I pretend they are something they aren’t, which leads me to pursue relationships that aren’t always the best for me. It often takes me a long time to realize this, and when I do, it’s always crushing. It’s a damaging cycle I have been trying to break in particular since my last relationship ended, but I have noticed myself having these kinds of fantasies again. After I spent so long trying to deal with this issue, it seems like it’s not as easy to overcome as I had thought.

    What actions can I take? I think I need to make a list of qualities that are truly important to me in a romantic relationship or significant other. This might help me gain perspective as to whether someone or some relationship is not meeting the expectations that matter or my fairy-tale expectations. I need to do this without someone in mind, so I don’t romanticize certain qualities they have that aren’t actually good for me.

    One positive thing that has happened this weekend was having the opportunity to spend time with an amazing friend. I realize more and more every day how much I enjoy this person’s company and the potential they have to help me grow as a person.

  3. I get very frustrated because I feel so stuck with the various things I have yet to accomplish and then I get upset with myself because I fail to get myself out of this hole I am in. I work hard and do my best but sometimes it is not enough. I beat myself to the ground a lot. I know I do this because I have high expectations of myself and I make myself feel inadequate at times. I place this burden on myself and demand success immediately when I doesn’t exactly happen that way.

    I think the best way to fix this problem is recognize the things I do right and give myself the credit I deserve because I worked hard. I also need to be a little more realistic and see that things take time. I should not beat myself up but lift myself up. Negativity isn’t going to solve my problems or make them disappear.

    The one postive thing today is I started talking about what I was feeling and why. I recorded one and I hope to record every day to release myself of all the emotions I usually bottle up.

  4. “What is One Thing That Has Been Frustrating You Lately?”

    Drinking nearly no water! I always read and got to know that we have to drink at least 1,5 liters of water each day, however for a very very long time I have not been able to go over 2 glasses of water a day. I can not understand how I can live with such less amount but I do. I tried many ways but I end up with the same result all the time. I remember a time when I was managing to drink 1,5 liters and it helped me so much for fitness of my body even without a proper diet on food.

    “How Can You Overcome It?”
    I will set up alarm on my mobile phone to remind me drink 200ml (one glass) water like every 2 hours and I will start the day with a glass of water, so I aim to drink 1,5 lt a day.

    Some of the positive things of the day:
    Getting over the flu which kicked me out yesterday whole day
    Having a great day with my friends fm university whom I have not seen for nearly a year
    Having a chatty talk with my mom and getting good news fm her on the phone

    now moving to day4 …

  5. Congrats on the over 500 positivity loving participants :clap: !! From the first day, or shall I say, from the first few hours, the challenge’s posts were on fire! It is nice to see so many people wanting to be more positive despite the hardships in life, it renews hope of a better world based on positivity & kindness :hug:

    “What is One Thing That Has Been Frustrating You Lately?”

    My underachievement!!!! :angry: ( Oh thanks Celes for adding this angry face lately to the collection, it expresses precisely how I feel – well maybe without the fire (yet!)) I have a plan to do the things I want/need to do but I’m just not sticking to it.

    “How Can You Overcome It?”

    Although most days I don’t stick to my daily plan, but the days when I wake up early I stick to the plan almost to the point of my liking. What usually keeps me from being an “early bird” is staying up late the night before, which is due to being online! The solution is to simply refrain from using the internet at night, I read it’s not good for the quality of sleep anyways. So win win!

    Baby step for today: Sleep early ( no later than 10)

    Some of the positive things of the day:
    Yesterday some home repairs were done and today the final touches were complete!
    I did sleep early, it was about 10:45, kinda later than my goal :mrgreen:

  6. Andria Yiasmin 13 years ago

    Lately I am frustrated with my life! I don’t feel like I get what I truly deserve and I leave other people keeping me behind.. I have so many dreams and I know I can make them reality but my emotional dependency on people keeps me behind..

    I could just say goodbye to everything and everyone who keeps me from evolving and just move on with my dreams.. But it is easier said than done and I am really afraid of goodbyes..

    Today I had a really nice meal with my flatmates and it was truly amazing..

    • Hey Andria :) I *think* I know what you mean about emotional dependency. Although I’m kinda sleepy right now (beware if I’m not making much sense…) but I wanted to say that are goodbyes really necessary?

      Goodbyes are big steps and sometimes big steps, or leaps, are just the right thing. But other times something a little less “final” than a “Goodbye” would do – like a “See you later” maybe ?

      Whether you need to take the big step or the baby step, your present positivity is essential :heart:

      • Andria Yiasmin 13 years ago

        Thank you for your reply Nadia:)
        Well sometimes goodbyes are unavoidable. Especially if you are not in the same page with the other person.

        It would be great to be able to say a see oyu later and mean it, but it things will never be the same again:)

        Positivity is essential no matter what:)

  7. My frustration has to do with not trusting my instincts re: people/energies that bring me down. I’m working on trusting my instincts and being brave enough to act on them in hopes of avoiding further pain.

    Positive: had a lovely brunch with my parents today. A new chance a love.

  8. Arnold Tse 13 years ago

    Quite a lot of little things frustrate me, and I wasn’t really sure what to write about. I had to redraft a couple of times before I wrote this.

    What frustrates me the most is how unfair the world is. Why are some people so poor while others have more money than they could spend? Why did I get stuck with such a bad teacher? Why am I still single, while other people who are clearly less attractive than me are in good relationships?

    I think that gratitude is the answer to my problems. If I take some time to think about what I actually have, instead of what I lack, I can learn to appreciate and be happy with my life. Then, I can try to find ways to get what I want.

  9. One thing that is frustrating me is the excess weight that I am carrying around my lack of motivation to do anything about it.
    I can overcome it by taking action. I need to stop talking and start doing.
    One step I can put into motion is to start tracking what I eat so that I am aware and try not to eat out of boredom or emotions.

    One positive thing that happened today (Friday) was having lunch outside with my co-workers and enjoying the beautiful weather! It was awesome!

  10. It is my my career, my job, that is most frustrating me, not just lately but since all of last year too! 
    I have worked for 12 years for this company, and from day 1, I have been pitched into the deep ocean, I found myself floundering in the world of management which is certainly not my core strength.  I’m a civil engineer by profession of which I’m not particularly passionate about, but do not mind working in a design environment, however when I joined this company 12 years ago, I found myself in project management environment which was certainly not my cup of tea.

    Anyway, I persevered, hoping for a silver lining, there were some years which I was not too stressed and I got by. I took up many activities within the company, mainly on a social level, which I feel proud of, I participated in team building functions, sports and recreation,  and excel in it, though it was well known to everyone, I was not upbeat about my job responsibilities and deliverables. 

    However, due to my good relationship with my boss, I managed to wiggle my way around. I even got myself transferred to work on overseas projects which were rather interesting and I got to travel to Europe and many other places. 
    I love the possibilities and exposure the company can offer, yet I remain frustrated in my inabilities to cope with pressure and the complexities of my job. 

    In the course of my work, I have even joined toastmasters, to improve my communications and leadership skills, which I found greatly lacking in myself but needed in my line of work. I even became the president of my toastmasters club for one year. due to work secondment overseas, I had to stop my toastmastering activities. 5 years on, and back to my home country, I took on a more senior role last year, and I nearly collapse due to the work pressure. I find that I can’t even manage myself, let alone my subordinates. 

    All my toastmasters skills has gone down the drain, all my earlier attempts to improve myself, has not come to fruition, I’m floundering in my position, despite being a senior and veteran in the company, I have recently  been kicked out of the project due to my inability to tackle the management or represent the company in a politically correct manner, and perhaps my lackadaisical attitude.  I’m at wits end, feeling terribly frustrated, tired, unable to even focus in the small  job I’m doing right now,  and my health is suffering. 

    My age is catching up, I  just can’t quit and hop on to another job with half my pay cheque or even become jobless. Should I quit and pursue my passion ( I don’t even know what my passions are) I love dancing and don’t know how I could make such a drastic move from engineering to dancing without affecting my finances, also considering the fact that I’m already in my mid forties?

    How could I overcome this major frustration thats eating into my life right now? I’m  really at wits end, I have no clue, frankly, I don’t even have the drive in me anymore to push myself forward.  I have been fighting and driving all the time in my environment, it’s clearly taken a toll on me, now I feel absolutely defeated and I want a break from my job … At least to think of my next course of action. 

    Yes! Perhaps I should consider taking a couple of months off, evaluate my life, find my passion, develop a plan for my future. Revamp my career…  I have to take no pay leave for a few months, I think, as I do not have the courage to suddenly quit! 

    Positive today was: I finally sign up for Beginners Salsa class! Starts next Monday! it a start for me towards another direction and I can’t wait ! :dance:

  11. I’ve been steadily gaining weight lately which has been frustrating me! Combination of age, diet and lifestyle.

    So I’ve taken some time to think about it, and talk about it with friends (for support), and do some reading (for motivation).

    Now to act on it, starting with writing down everything that I’ve been eating, weighing myself, and encouraging myself to exercise (in the form of walking) … more steps!

    On a positive note, I had such a great day with my niece and her son!

  12. The one thing that has been frustrating is my negligence towards exercise!
    Every day i decide to exercise,but each time procrastinate it!
    To overcome it –i have to set goal..make action plans and manage my time and energy for execution!

    positive thing —read ESPER again!

  13. Frustrating thing is- i work in a bank but we all r under paid, as per industry ratings. I want to try another job or institution, but i m not getting the better option, institution or time to even search a job. I am really into entrepreneurship and want to start something on my own, but i can’t leave bank as it is the only source of income of my family. there is 4 more months to complete my MBA degree, and sometimes i think i should focus on MBA before divert my mind on job search or business. But it’s frustrating as i think of my marriage days approaching nearer and i have very little time for savings and doing something on my own. Every day frustrates me, cause i feel time slipping thru my hand.

    Positive thing about today is – my brother approached me after so long time, he needed my help for a format and i could help him, just the way he expected from me. m so happy :)

    • Hi Prerana, sounds like you have a lot going on! So many goals to achieve yet not enough time. There seems to be 3 main points to focus on which are the MBA degree, the job and the marriage.

      I too have multiple things that need my attention right now in life, but the one with the highest priority is the one with the nearest deadline! Everyone has their own way of prioritizing, so what is yours?

      Congrats on seeing your brother, hope you two develop the relationship you wish to have :heart:

  14. What’s frustrating for me is that I smoke and I want to stop. I picked up yhe habit almost 3 years ago from my ex-fiance and I’m frustrated because I once prided myself that I wasn’t addicted to anything. I enjoy it but I know its horrible. I have switched brands to smoke less and have joined a program to stop. One thing that was positive today was spending time with my kids. :))

  15. Something frustrating for me is that I feel like I can do so much better in school and yet I…it’s not like I can’t, or I don’t (because I really do care). It’s just that sometimes, even if I try hard, the results just aren’t up to par with what I expect. I have never done so horrible before so I don’t know what’s wrong but I am intending to fix it little by little.

    Something I did that was positive today: I gave my brother some informations he needed for research :)

  16. What is One Thing That Has Been Frustrating You Lately?

    One massive frustration I have is that I have not been exactly productive and living the life I want to live. On the physical side, I feel sleepy most of the time, expecially in the morning. I feel hungry too, especially in the late morning and afternoon, even though I have eaten breakfast and lunch. On the mental and emotional side, I worry and procrastinate.

    How Can You Overcome It?

    Perhaps the most fundamental thing I can do is to relive the passion and joy of doing what I love to do. This is what I am trying to reach now by slowly getting myself to cultivate good habits (do reflection, some minor reading) through discipline and commitment. Also, I can practice acceptance and be grateful of what I have. For sleepiness, I can practice experimenting techniques to improve sleep and wakefulness (eg. getting more sunlight, take a nap, exercise, etc). To deal with hunger, I can eat a small meal every 2 hours to keep myself full all the time.

    Identify at least one positive thing about your day.

    Reading ‘One Taste’ by Ken Wilber. A one-year journal of the author himself, it is a thoroughly intellectually satisfying read.

  17. Desiree Garcia 13 years ago

    One thing that has been frustrating me is my depression. It frustrates me because it wont allow me to work out or to enjoy the simple things i once had enjoyed.

    I would LOVE to start to work out. That is my goal. My depression prevents me from stepping out of my element.

    My plan to overcome it is to simply start with this 21 day challenge, which i am excited about. I have came up with a plan to motivate myself. My plan is to CHANGE all around.

  18. This is my first post on this website. I must admit, I have cheated a couple of days on not posting my positive experiences but I will start today. The positive thing for today actually started with a couple of negatives. I realized i had to pay many bills, and i’m already broke from when I got paid. I had to go food shopping but only had $40 to my name, and i tried to get a car quote from a dealer to trade in my car. As all of this was going on, I told myself, whats going on? Why cant I do what i want to do or get what I want to get? Then I of course realized it was my finances going crazy, but I make good money! Why is this happening. I made a list of bills and what I get paid, and I’m suppose to have an excess of over $1000!!! I noticed all the unpaid bills and unopened mail on my table and realized that I’ve been making many bad mistakes. I’m spending money on unnecessary things. Silly things at that! So my positive experience was the sudden urge of getting my life together and WANTING to take control of everything I can. I felt this rush of excitement knowing I have control in what I need, what I want, and what I need to do to be happier and not have to worry about finances. I would say thats positive, I dont know what everyone else thinks but I’m happy I figured it out!!! :clap:

  19. What has been frustrating to me is that someone very close in my life has been pretending to be someone he’s not. He skips out on family events, telling everyone he is tired and ready for bed. Everyone thinks he is going home to bed, when he really leaves and goes out partying all night. He says he will quit drinking, then pours a drink as soon as he comes home the next day. He tells people one thing, and does another, but everyone around him thinks he’s doing great and has no idea what is really going on. He pretends to be devoted to our family and then does things that tear our family apart.

    What can I do to overcome this? Quit letting it negatively impact my life! In the past, it has hurt me so much that I’ve been unable to enjoy my own life because I was letting his actions get in the way of my life. I’ve tried to reach out to him, to be supportive, to praise the good things he does, to seek out what his dreams are for his life and suggest ways to work towards those things. But I reached the point that I’m choosing not to be supportive anymore. It’s negatively impacting my life too much and it’s time for me to move on. Though his actions still frustrate me, I’ve learned how to deal with my emotions. I am so thankful for my best friend, who lets me talk about these frustrations. I vent for a few minutes, and feel heard, then I’m able to re-focus back to what I can do to improve myself instead of being depressed about what he chooses to do. I know I can’t change his actions. I can only control my own. I’ve already decided that I don’t want to live this way anymore, so I’ve already taken action and made it happen. In 38 days, I’ll be out of his daily life. But I did vent to my best friend today about the things that happened tonight. And he reminded me that I’m able to look at myself in the mirror, happy for the actions *I* choose today. :)

    Positive things about today: Spent time with my daughter on a college visit, lunch and shopping. Went to my nieces birthday party and spent time with friends and family.

    • I have to say, you sound very empowered and happy about the decision that you’ve made. I wish you the best of luck!!! :dance:

  20. I find it verrry frustrating to have limited mobility. I have worked very diligently to get rid of so much extra weight, and that all helps in sooooo many ways, :heart: and the rewards and benefits of dropping all that weight are countless. :heart: :heart: However, I still have some weight to drop to put myself in the best condition for knee replacement surgery, and until then, it is very difficult to have such compromised effects from bad knees and legs that do not fully extend straight, and leaning on my cane when I walk hurts my back.

    Solution is to keep on keeping on with what has given me such successful results, of course, and keep the faith, doing whatever I can with physical activity :heart: and staying consistent with my food plan, so that when I consult with a surgeon in a couple months, I will be even lighter and stronger, :heart: and can get an idea what kind of help I can get with these knees, and when.

    I will say that having this mobility issue has really gotten my attention and I now have (and have had for quite some time now) a passion to be slender, whereas I was used to carrying lots of extra weight, and that compromised a much better quality of life and opportunity for myself. I am living soooo much more in reality, and my clean, healthy living allows me to live with much more clarity and insight. :heart: :dance: Ohhh, but that I had all that without having to have come to the dire consequences that compelled me to change my ways. It takes what it takes, and I had to have serious consequences of obesity, consequences that became unacceptable to me, that led me to embracing consistent discipline, which, has become, after all is said and done, my teacher and friend. :heart:

    POSITIVITY

    Today, I climbed stairs (slowly, carefully), and walked all around the inside of a new friend’s house, and outside on the property, which was on a hill. I could feel my body stronger, albeit I’m unable to stand up straight, as mentioned above.

    I have come a lonnnng way from sitting on the sofa, bingeing, watching TV, and i am so proud of myself when I do as much as I can, even when my body would rather just rest/chill out. :rolleyes:

  21. Katherine G. 13 years ago

    I’ve learned not to get frustrated over things I have no control over. That decision right there has removed loads of stress from my life and great weights from my shoulders. So I fret over the things I can control. As of late, it’s my room. It’s the smallest room in the house, so there isn’t a lot of room to utilize. I don’t have a closet or a door, and I’m missing two walls. It’s not fully carpeted, has no paint on the walls, no overhead lights, and three tiny windows. It’s almost a dungeon. I did lay claim to it as my bedroom when my older brother moved out (it was his room), for one reason only. It’s the warmest room in the house and at the time my bedroom was the coldest room in the house. I won’t move out of this room for anything, I need the warmth. But I’d like it to improve in living conditions. I don’t have space for most of the furniture and then I have all this stuff! I practically don’t have any living room within it whatsoever. I’ve been reduced to doing homework on my bed. I don’t have room to do anything else, so life has gotten pretty boring when it comes to my room.

    I’ve already started overcoming it. I rearranged the furniture (at least the pieces I can physically move) so it’s more open and more practical. The next thing I’ve been working on is eliminating paper. I’m a writer, so I have stacks of papers all over my room. I also read a lot. So I have stacks of magazines, newspapers, journals, etc. all over the place. Plus, I’m a pack rat (runs in the family on the ladies side), so I keep mementos from all the places I’ve visited. Let’s not even get into the stuff from National Geographic (those are actually a nice compromise to painting my walls). Downsizing my collection of paper has given me a lot more room already, and I’m not even half way done with the paper.

    I’m downsizing my magazines and journals as well. I’m tearing out the pages that have valuable articles, stories, or pictures and throwing out the rest. Those torn out pages are then filed into binders and placed on a shelf in one of my many bookcases. That gives me a lot more room as well, and more space on the bookcases for actual books. I’ve already gone through my clothing and donated articles that don’t fit, I never wear, and thrown out ones that weren’t good enough to donate. Boy howdy did that make my life easier!

    The only other thing I’ll have to do, is actually go through my stuff. Toys I no longer need, books I never read, stuffed animals I don’t need, office supplies that don’t work, things I never look at or use, etc. That’s the hardest part of fixing my room but it’s necessary. As I get older, certain phases of my life pass. I’m no longer a child so I don’t need my toys. I may keep a few for the memories, but over all, I don’t need them. They have gone from personal belongings to clutter.

    I’d like to be able to do work and homework on my desk rather than my bed. I’d like to do a craft once in awhile, exercise, play some music, or write a story. I need my room to be a place of productivity not wallowing. It’ll take a few weeks, but it’s getting there! =D

    My positive moment for Day 3 is small, but I absolutely love it. As I was leaving the post office, I had my hands full of packages. This older gentleman saw me walking towards the door with my arms full, so he opened the door for me and held it until I was through. I got to the other door before he did, so I pushed it open with my weight. I was planning on returning the favor for him, and hold it for him but he quickly came up and held it for me again. I thanked him and he smiled and said, “No problem, it’s my pleasure.” I love it when people do little things like that for another person. If everyone started doing little acts of kindness for a stranger, without ever asking or expecting anything in return, the world would be a nicer place. So that brightened up my day.

  22. What is One Thing That Has Been Frustrating You Lately? How Can You Overcome It?

    My colleague’s whinging. She whinges whole day long at work and create negative vibes at work. In other words, de-motivation.

    We tried to talk to her but nothing can be done because of her childhood, she had family issues. Because of who she is, she does not have many friends.

    Because of the negativity, we tried to stay away from her… her whinging can last for 30 minutes during our 45 minutes lunch break.

    To overcome that, we try to avoid her as much as we can as we all get stressed at work and we do not need more negativity for the day. It got to a point we talk only about work, nothing else… or if not, she will whinge about every single thing.

    I said thank you to a friend whom I meet at least once a week and we went out to watch a basketball match which was really relaxing.

  23. JadePenguin 13 years ago

    What is One Thing That Has Been Frustrating You Lately?
    Not having money to pay my rent.

    … and
    How Can You Overcome It?
    Wait for my reply about student loans. Meanwhile, I can ask if the math skills centre is hiring, cause I could take that as an extra job but definitely not going back to customer service, which contributes nothing to humanity.

    Positive today: watched some TED talks, which was inspiring ^^
    also met some other Estonians at my uni – felt homely (even though I don’t miss my country, it’s still fun to keep in touch)

  24. What is One Thing That Has Been Frustrating You Lately?
    – My phone has been acting really weird. When I’m in a call random apps will open, often the phone will hang up or mute my so that the other party can’t hear, and even when I try to unmute it or close the apps, the screen is frozen for a minute. It drives me nuts.

    How Can You Overcome It?
    – I think our protection plan covers replacing the phones, though I’m not sure if it’s free or if there’s a fee. The problem is that I just don’t think about it unless the phone is acting up right then, so I never remember to actually call the Sprint store and ask about it.

    For the step(s) you identified to overcome your frustration, put it into motion.
    – Okay, I checked my Sprint account, and we have “total equipment protection”. I then called the nearest Sprint store to ask about replacing the phone and the guy said that as long as it hasn’t been damaged by water and the screen isn’t cracked they’ll replace it for free! I can go tomorrow afternoon, but I need to get my partner to back up all the stuff on my phone for me. I’m terrible with that sort of thing.

    Identify at least one positive thing about your day.
    – I have a couple things!

    When I was walking the dogs this morning a man and a little girl were walking behind us for a while. I figure he was either her father or grandfather. They were holding hands and he was asking her questions like, “How much is…. 9 take away 3?” and when she asnwered them correctly he was like, “Good!” It just makes me really happy to see a child and her guardian actually spending time together, and the fact that he was helping her learn was so great!

    I volunteered for a couple hours today at the Vegas Veg booth at a local Bark in the Park event. We work to promote compassionate eating, and it was great to get to talk to so many people and introduce them to vegetarian and vegan ideas.

  25. Forgot to add positiveness point:

    Positive thoughts entered my head about future family breaks, finding out my sons school placement in a few weeks and starting an online business admin course.

  26. Another very difficult question. I have trouble narrowing it down to one specific thing.

    (What frustrates me?):

    I get easily frustrated/bored/irritable about alot of little things!

    Sometimes I don’t know what I want, or I change my mind alot.

    I am indecisive and I can lack confidence and what frustrates me most is lack of energy, pain, stiffness, poor concentration, short attention span at times.

    I get frustrated at lack of motivation, energy and indecisiveness mostly! Feelings of guilt or uncertainately with decisions or lack of decisions made.

    I get frustrated with struggling to do certain everyday simple things others find easy.

    (What can I do to overcome):

    I don’t believe you can totally overcome every little issue. However there are lots of positive steps and habits one can take to change there lifestyle. Changing negative mindsets into positive ones, taking mini or baby steps in different areas of your life on a daily basis, make constantly daily efforts and monitoring, create action plans and achievement journals to monitor any improvements or see any patterns in my life. List priorities and values and create goals around those. Accept certain things the way they are or make changes. do things differently. Concentrate and Focus on what I can do well. Never compare myself to others and never get absorbed into other peoples beliefs and attitudes about how life should be lived. Follow my own ideas to contentment and dont feel the need to justify myself to others. Thing of mistakes or decisions as lessons to be learned. Analyse but don’t over analyse. Make adaptions and perform habits that will positively affect my health and provide a balanced fulfillment across all areas of my life.

  27. Hi everyone,

    This is an interesting question and I could give several answers!

    Initially I was going to say my son not liking school, then I was going to say my lack of focus but as I started typing just now something else came up for me

    What is frustrating me is my internal negative voice. That voice that tells me I can’t do things, that things won’t change and that really I am not very great and haven’t achieved much. The voice that tells me I am not good enough, causes me to compare myself with others and feel at the mercy of every offhanded tone of voice or misplaced comment I encounter from the people in my life. I don’t react to these things but I can go from feeling great to pathetic by the tone of my brother’s voice when I tell him about what I am up to.

    I am going to complete this challenge and develop the positivity habit and also start meditating again to calm my mind and gain an accurate estimation of myself instead of this negative one that crops up from time to time.

    So I am going to meditate tomorrow morning and ensure I complete day 4 of the challenge :)

    Positive things about my day:

    Completed rewriting a children’s book for my friend
    Had a psychic reading
    Had my friend and her son round during the afternoon
    Had an excellent conversation with my ex, made it clear that it is over, explained why and felt on good terms with him and like we have closure. I feel positive about my decision and that I can learn from it.

    • Oh yeah and I made it to church after weeks of ‘meaning’ to go!

  28. There just isn’t enough time at work to do everything I need to do each day. Shrinking resources with fewer people to do more. I focus on being positive and do as much as I can. Sometimes I stay later and sometimes I take work home, so I do not feel overwhelmed starting the next day. It helps to know that my co-workers are dealing with the same situation.

  29. I guess the one thing that’s been frustrating me lately is retraining my mind set. My whole life I’ve thought that things just happen whether you want them to or not and you have no control over any of it. Because of these beliefs I’ve spent far too many years with a pessimistic attitude. I’ve been slowly learning that by living in the moment and keeping a positive outlook I can overcome many of these negative preconceived notions I have of life. While I feel I’ve made a lot of progress in this area, I still have so far to go and I’ll admit it’s quite frustrating for me.

    The only way that I can overcome this is to stay the course and be patient with myself during this journey of thought transformation. I need to remind myself to not be so hard on myself because changing a habit I’ve lived with for 30 years isn’t something that can be achieved overnight.

    One positive thing that happened today was that after several days of gloomy, overcast skies, the sun finally came out today and just as I was leaving work, too!

  30. Lately I’ve been frustrated with my job search. I’ve been out of college for 10 months now and have yet to find a place to really kick off a career. I interned for 8 months before realizing it wasn’t getting me anywhere soon and now I’m trying to figure out what I’m suppose to do in life.

    I’m a pretty positive person so I don’t stress about this as much as I could otherwise. But I do yearn for some direction and focus in my life.

    To Overcome this…
    1. Stop focusing so much on the start.
    2. Decide on one thing I think I want to do, try it, and if it doesn’t work try something else.
    3. Talk to more people

    Today’s positive… I was finally able to catch the last two episodes of my favorite show online :)

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