Frustration can be a useful
tool. Not a pleasant one, but
useful. Frustration with how tired
we are, or how chubby we look in photos, or how hard it is to run for the bus
can motivate us to get started on a fitness program. The exercise burns away the frustration, reduces stress, and
begins to address the problems that were frustrating us.
But there are other kinds of
frustration that we can use. When
we get injured and can’t do our usual activities, frustration can help us try
something new that we can do. The
frustrating process of rehabilitation can allow us to develop more mindfulness
and more precise form so we don’t have to repeat the process after another
injury.
Then there is the kind of
frustration that comes from other sources entirely, like maybe the kid who
takes 45 minutes to put on clean underwear, pants, and a shirt, or the person
in the car ahead of you who does not appear to have passed driver’s training,
or the family member who left us without toilet paper in the bathroom. Frustration does generate energy and
there is no better way to get rid of it than by taking it out on the treadmill,
the weight rack, or the yoga mat.
It’s all fuel. Use it!