Frustration, and the things that cause it, seem to run rampant in my life. Frustrations can range from people (both professional associations and personal) to inanimate objects, varying situations, and just life in general. How I deal with those frustrations causes even more frustration. For some reason, I am not one of the calm people that takes everything in stride – Lord I wish I was!  And I do try, but I never seem to quite succeed. Generally my response ranges from &*$%#@! to throwing the object across the room – though the latter has never happened anywhere  but home. It can also include the pitch of my voice raising quite rapidly in conversation and the expression in my hazel eyes changing to one of “mean eyes”, or so my Daughter called them when she was a toddler. My Sister on the other hand takes everything in stride. She will smile and keep going. Her only “tell” is the expression in her hazel eyes – that same “mean eyes” look. However, the remainder of her actions are quite calm, her voice is level, and in the end, she just shrugs it off and moves on. Me, I NEVER just shrug it off. I worry about it, stew about it, and generally let it foul up my entire day. Given my job, I have a LOT of those days. I am always saying “God grant me patience; I want it now!” While I am a lot better than I used to be, that calm, take-it-in-stride trait will never completely be part of my repertoire! For me there will always be that quick trigger, rapid response. Maybe that is part of what keeps me going at 60+ years old, in a job that demands you be always on, always be available, and continuously do more with less. I long for that day when peace and quiet shall reign in my life and frustrations will be a “meh” response. Somehow I suspect I might have to be dead for that to happen.