Does being annoyed serve any useful purpose?
If it does, are there classes you can take or experiences you can pay for that help you become annoyed? We have gyms to get fit and mindfulness exercises to get calm, but I’m not sure I’m seeing a widespread movement toward seeking annoyance.
So, if being annoyed is simply a side effect of something else we do, and it’s not actually useful, why do we work so hard to amplify the annoyance we feel? Why create a narrative, push hard against the powerless bureaucrat or the stuck pickle jar simply to make ourselves even more annoyed?
The only person who is getting taught a lesson is us.
(Seth Godin)
I feel as if I have deserted Seth over the last few weeks. Sorry Seth ☹.
Our roads are being dug up …again…a necessary evil if we want to get optical fiber to the village. I see my angry neighbours gesticulating wildly at the workers, unable to get cars out of driveways …truth be told they all got the same letter I did to tell them when they would be in the road …guess they didn’t bother reading it.
Far easier to complain…the trenches are dug!
Something that comes far too easy these days, Complain. As opposed to Get up and do something about it. I guess for many that is literally a step too far but…consider this
Is It Just Me, Or Is the World Going Crazy?
This is in your face angry. He is an angry dude! However, he makes a point!
“And this is what disturbs me: the fact that people today, despite living with more safety and wealth and access to information than anyone in human history, feel as though the world is going crazy and something drastic must be changed.
But really it’s not just them. It’s us. We are going crazy. Each one of us, individually, capsized in the flood of negativity, we are ready to burn down the very structures on which the most successful civilizations in human history have been built.
But why? How did this happen? And how can we stop it?”
Maybe Seth …can help us out here !
Do you really want the grease?
Or would you rather make things better?
The best way to contribute to a community or a brand isn’t by complaining.
It’s by making things better.
Taking responsibility (without authority) and creating a positive cycle of generous action. Leading by example. Finding a small corner where you can make a difference–and then making a difference.
We keep optimizing our systems for squeaky wheels.
But often, all we get is a patch, not a fix.
Food for thought.
Maybe some relaxing tunes …and an espresso !
The uncomfortable combination of effort and acceptance
We have the opportunity to expend the maximum effort on behalf of a worthy goal.
And we also have the choice to mindfully accept whatever happens next.
Acceptance is a choice in the service of our happiness and the ability to try again tomorrow.
When we detach our emotional state from the results of our effort, we maximize the chances that our effort will be focused and effective. We’re not trying to control the outcome, simply putting our best effort into creating the conditions that lead to the desired outcome.
The opportunity is:
- to go all in, and
- to be okay with what happens after that.
Saturday morning Reflections 