About two years ago at a youth group convention, I went to a program for all of the chapter presidents in our region. During the program, our regional president gave us each a piece of paper and a pen and asked us to answer a few questions. Who has inspired you? How do you want to inspire others? What changes do you want to make? How are you going to accomplish them?
After answering all of the questions, she gave us a piece of advice: get frustrated.
It seemed counter-productive, getting frustrated. Why should we get mad about things, that doesn't seem like a good way to lead. But really, what would happen if we never did? How are you ever going to change something if you're not frustrated enough in the first place to care if things change?
That piece of paper from the program is still hanging on my wall in my room. In the middle of all the answers to those questions it says in big bold underlined letters GET FRUSTRATED!
I've gotten so used to it being there though, that I forget to listen to it. I remembered it the other day when I was talking to a friend about an annoying situation I was dealing with and I caught myself saying "I'm trying not to get pissed."
Why shouldn't I though? I won't go into detail about what it was, but I obviously cared about the situation enough to get pissed, so why should I stop myself from feeling what I did? In this particular case, getting frustrated isn't going to change anything, because it's completely out of my hands. But at the very least, it feels better than pretending to be okay with something you're not at all okay with.
If people didn't get frustrated, I bet a lot of things wouldn't exist. Why do you think the light bulb was invented? Thomas Edison probably got really frustrated with how dim candlelight is and how messy wax is.. Okay so I actually have no idea why he invented it, but it makes sense, and light bulbs are a hell of a lot less frustrating than I imagine it is to live by candlelight.
The point is, it's good to get frustrated. Yes, there are right times and wrong times to get frustrated. Some settings really aren't the time and place to get upset. Some things really just aren't worth your time and energy to get worked up about. But chances are, if something matters enough that it pisses you off, it's worth it. Go ahead and rant to your best friend, scream into your pillow, stomp angrily around your house. Or blog about it if that's the kind of person you are, which obviously, I am.
Get pissed. Get angry. Be upset. GET FRUSTRATED.
Who knows, maybe in your fit of frustration you'll come up with a solution to whatever it is you're not happy about. If you ask me, getting frustrated is the key to getting things done.
It's okay not to be okay with something. It's okay to want things to be different. It's okay to let yourself feel exactly what you're feeling, and not pretend to feel differently. It's okay - in fact, it's encouraged (at least by me,) to get frustrated.
~Melissa Tamar
