Uphill Struggles: How To Deal With Feeling Frustrated With Your Life

aders in Heels-Business Women Rocking the Scene-Chispa MagazineNo matter how happy you are, there is no doubt that life can, at least occasionally, be pretty frustrating. No matter how good many aspects of your life might be, there are always going to be those things that make you feel stuck and stressed. Of course, there’s a big difference between occasionally feeling that way and having those feelings of frustration completely consume your life. When that starts to happen, it can cause serious problems not only on an emotional level, but it can start to impact many different aspects of your day to day life. Feelings of frustration when it comes to your life can make many things seem pointless, and make it incredibly difficult to find the joy in anything. These feelings can make you feel trapped without any real options. Luckily, that’s not the case. There are always options and things that you can do in order to get away from those feelings of frustration. Not all of them are easy, and many of them require a fair amount of effort on your part, but they are all things that you can do if you really want to start feeling more positive about your life as a whole.

Stop placing blame. The first thing that you need to do in order to avoid feeling stuck and frustrated with your life is to start taking some responsibility for it. All too often people spend their time complaining about the ways in which the world is unfair without ever actually doing anything about the conditions of their own lives. It’s often just easier to believe that all of the problems in your life are someone else’s fault and that you had nothing to do with it. In reality, things are often a lot more complicated and nuanced than that. Think about the decisions that you’ve made in the past that have led you to this point. Once you take responsibility for your own life and stop blaming the world for your problems, you’re going to be in a position to start actually doing something about it.

Be grateful for what you have. Just because you’re frustrated with your life, doesn’t mean that there’s nothing positive about it. The problem is that many of the most unpleasant aspects of life tend to be the things that stick in our minds. If you hate your job, then that’s going to be all you think of and the time you spend with your loved ones outside of work can all too often fade into the background. Keeping something like a gratitude list is a great way to get out of this head space. By taking a note of all of the things that you’re grateful in your life, whether they’re big things or tiny moments during the day, you’ll be able to reorient your way of thinking towards a more positive and productive outlook.   

Change what you can. Of course, sometimes the only real way to get away from that sense of frustration that you might be feeling is to actually do something about it. If you hate your job, then you may want to start looking more closely at other things that you can do as a career. Think about the things that you’re passionate about and try and pursue them. The same goes for plenty of the other aspects of your life that you might be frustrated with. Feeling stuck and frustrated often comes from a sense of powerlessness. However, you actually have far more power and agency over your own life than you might think. You’ve just got to be willing to actually put the effort in and reach out for it.

Accept what you can’t change. That being said, there are also going to plenty of things in your life that you simply can’t change. You might be in a position to change your job but then again you might not. After all, finding work isn’t always easy, and not everyone has the luxury of being able to take the time to spend job hunting. The important thing here is to be able to recognize the difference between things that you can change and things that you can’t. That way you’ll be able to more clearly understand what it is that’s worth your time and attention. Parts of your life that you can’t change are just things that you’re going to have to learn to live with. You’ll often find that, once you accept that there are certain things that you simply can’t do anything about, those things become much easier to live with.

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Mia Guerra

Mia Guerra

Executive Editor at Chispa Magazine
Executive Editor at Chispa Magazine, Mia Guerra is a writer at heart. Regardless the topic, she loves to investigate, encourage, and ruminate on topics that can make us better people. Aiming to live a Proverbs 31 life, Mia is ecstatic to be following her calling with Chispa. At home she is her husband's sidekick and together they are raising a God-fearing family in Atlanta.

Mia Guerra

Executive Editor at Chispa Magazine, Mia Guerra is a writer at heart. Regardless the topic, she loves to investigate, encourage, and ruminate on topics that can make us better people. Aiming to live a Proverbs 31 life, Mia is ecstatic to be following her calling with Chispa. At home she is her husband's sidekick and together they are raising a God-fearing family in Atlanta.