Youโre having the most amazing day youโve had in a while; itโs Friday, you and your team have met every deadline, the workday is flying by, youโre giddy thinking about the exciting date at your favorite restaurant tonight, and everything is going incredibly well! That is, until your co-worker makes a rude or inappropriate comment that causes your blood to boil or instantly puts you into a bad mood.
You begin to worry about heading into the weekend with this dark cloud of annoyance and anger looming around your head, and all you can think about is what a jerk that person is. You fear that your dinner date will turn into a venting session, when 10 minutes prior, all you wanted to was enjoy the company of your significant other and have a blissful weekend.
Weโve all been here.
Whether someone says something hurtful to you, you are thrown a project curve ball to prepare for within the next week, or you have an incredibly toxic coworker, these tips and tricks will help you shake off and all anger and annoyances, and leave you feeling like the Queen or King of your world. Remember, we all have control over our lives.
We can choose whether we sit in anger, fluster in annoyance, or embrace happiness and stability. Itโs easy to remove anger. Itโs simple to remove annoyances from your life. You simply have to realize that you are in the driver’s seat of your life, and you can go and do wherever you want!
3 Ways to Shake Off Anger and Minor Annoyances
- Shake It Off Meditation – Duck Style
Visualization and association are powerful tools; not only do they temporarily move your visual focus away from the negativity, but they also help to expand your perspective outside of your “anger bubble”. Hereโs a quick meditation, or visualization exercise, to help remove anger from your life.
Take a moment to breathe and visualize the most beautiful duck you have ever seen. Think about the water repellent qualities of the feathers that cover that duckโs body. Imagine a bucket of water labeled โNegativityโ hovering above the duck; keep in mind that this label can be anything that is negative in your life. Visualize that bucket of โNegativityโ pouring right onto that beautiful duck. Watch closely as the droplets of โNegativityโ roll right off of the duckโs slick feathered body. Watch as the last drop rolls right off of the duckโs tail feather, right before the duck shakes all of the โNegativityโ completely off. No โNegativityโ sticks to the duck, and the duck goes on with its life. It is able to fly away, unhindered by โNegativityโ! Imagine that you are that duck. Feel the โNegativityโ of your situation rolling right off of your back, and shake it off. It cannot stick to you!
- Accentuate the Positive
There is a Buddhist belief that tell us that we are able remove the irritation of a situation or person by balancing it with a positive aspect. This is a powerful technique; it not only helps you in the present moment, but it also beings to sculpt your outlook on life, in its entirety, in a more positive way.
If you find yourself in a pointless disagreement with a friend or you cannot shake the anger you feel towards your friend after youโve made up, take a moment and think about a positive aspect of them. When you think about the good aspects of that person, you remember the respect you have for that person and are able to move out of your anger bubble and return to the big picture of your friendship.
If you find that you cannot find a positive aspect of a toxic coworker, think about the positive aspects of the situation. You are growing as a person. You are gaining managerial skills. You are discovering the different situations that you will find yourself in throughout your life and learning how to effectively and successfully deal with that situation and remain happy!
If you find yourself thrown into a work project at the last minute, think about how you may be the most trusted employee to complete this task! Then, think about the positives for the future; you are displaying your capacity to take on more responsibility and move up in your company! The positive, bigger picture is a great motivator!
- Revamp How You Word Your Emotions
Words are surprisingly powerful! You may have heard your parents or grandparents tell you or someone you know that โhate is a powerful word,โ and you may have seen the amazing hate/love rice experiment. We have all seen the signs that seem to remind us that words seem to have a real energy about them. When we choose to embody the energy of those words, we are actually increasing the hold that those words have on us.
By saying โI am angryโ or โI am annoyedโ, we are embodying the energy of anger and annoyance. We are allowing ourselves to accept and hold onto anger; this gives us permission to foster and become annoyance, personified. We become unable to let go of that anger because we are constantly telling ourselves that we ARE anger.
Something that we should remember is that emotions are only states of being; they are not actually beings. States have the ability to move, flow, morph, and change. If we think about the states of matter, they are not permanently solid, liquid, or gas; instead, a glass of water allows those states to move through it, but water is still water in its truest state.
By changing our wording to โI โfeelโ angryโ or โI โfeelโ annoyedโ, we are allowing ourselves to feel angry without being the poster-child of anger. This allows the anger to flow through and out of us when we are finished feeling angry. This helps us remember that even though we feel angry, we are still ourselves underneath, and we can return to being our truest self whenever we want!
Give these amazing tips a try! Watch the quality of your life improve right before your eyes! Getting rid of anger and annoyances is incredibly easy, and your body will thank you for it!
Copyright 2015 Jennifer “Aurora Moone” McDonald / All Rights Reserved.
