The Good from the Bad: Reframing Frustration

This may very well be the final post of the year for me… wow, I started this a year ago… right at the end of 2010! I seem to have found a ‘groove’ of sorts, posting in a not-nearly-weekly fashion, but still productive for me. Hopefully it has been helpful in some way for all of you… please feel free to leave comments, as it seems to often go quite quiet from the audience, and I often don’t know, albeit still good for me, how much I am just “talking to myself.”

Anyway…

A short reflection in this post.

Yesterday, in the midst of a mad rush to get out the door to the office, I had a creative idea (music) that I just had to get out and documented – I often forget melodies, rhythms or lyrics unless I make this effort.

A quick setup with the tools, and I was off and running – or maybe NOT.

NOTHING was working… a plugged-in guitar was full of unintended static and low signal, and so was the vocal mic. I switched connections, cables and even mics… same thing, NO CHANGE.

You could say it was very frustrating.

I soldiered on. What used to be known on a PC as the three-finger salute (control-alt-delete) was employed… basically, I rebooted.

HAHA… problem solved, if nothing else works, reboot often solves even the most serious dilemmas! Wouldn’t it be great if everything in life was that “easy?”

Anyway, I finished up a rushed quick-recording for future reference, hurriedly threw myself in the shower, and then I was off to work. That said, it seemed I was still carrying the frustration in my hurried movement to Redmond. What’s up with THAT? I was grumbling at drivers with deeper road rage than I would ever want to admit, and then something happened.

Unfortunately, it took almost the entire 30 min drive but…

I started laughing. It’s a great thing to be frustrated about: the fact that I needed to express something. I had a cool idea that needed to get out. It’s not like I lost $500 at a crap table or something. I was actually happy to be frustrated.

I was thankful.

It really is great to be so passionate about something that when it cannot go the way you might like, it becomes painful.

The fact that I even HAD a good idea is a good thing… imagine that! I guess I am thankful for the good pain, and perhaps not so focused on that actual pain, but why it was there to begin with. Reframing comes with focusing on what’s important. All the toil and trouble we go through to make something happen is about focusing on what is important, and learning from how we might improve the process. Don’t obsess about the pain ay? Have any mind-blowing reframing happen lately?

So next time, I’ll go right to rebooting!

And with that, Happy New Year!!!