Things that (usually) make me go “Ugh!”

There are one or two things in this world that have the power to make me burst out into an annoyed “Ugh!” Well, maybe three things 😉.

For example, if I have to wait. Not just forever. It’s enough to trigger my impatience button if I am not the first in line.

Or if someone cuts in line.

Or if the traffic light turns red just when I am driving up to it. (Even though, strictly speaking, that makes me first in line … 😂)

When things like that happen, I usually dislike them. I get tense and can feel resistance building up inside of me. I refuse to accept what is going on. I want to fight back, make it go away, and punish the one who is at fault that I am in this situation.

And of course, the reason I am feeling all worked up is the nature of the situation. It’s just IMPOSSIBLE!!

Now, the other day I made a mistake. That’s another thing that usually causes me to cringe and go “Ugh!” But this time I reacted in a completely relaxed way. I don’t know why. I just embraced the fact that the mistake had been made. To be honest, I am not even sure I called it a mistake. I saw it as the most natural and acceptable thing in the world.

I did not flinch.
I did not complain.
I simply went ahead and corrected it.

And then this happened:

While I was undoing my mistake, I found another one. It was a mistake I must have made earlier that week. A mistake I had not been aware of.

My reaction?

I laughed and felt elated. To me it was as if in order to find that mistake (the one I had made earlier in the week), I had to make another one. In other words, the second mistake wasn’t a mistake. It was a gift.

I was a very happy camper. I actually sat at my desk and took a moment to relish what had happened.

It was so liberating to experience that “things” do not have the power to make me feel bad. Instead it is me and my response to what is happening.

In addition, I wondered: If I had reacted with an “Ugh!” to the second mistake, would I have even noticed the previous one? Or would my reaction have caused me to miss the opportunity to correct it?

I would have been far too busy devoting my attention to the fact that I had made a mistake, and that because of it I had to waste precious time correcting it, and that I was prone to making mistakes due to the nature of the stupid computer software, and that I wouldn’t be in this precarious position if my coworkers were better at doing their job – and so on and so forth.

In other words, occupied with venting and struggling, I would not have had the capacity to notice anything else.

As illogical as it might sound, it appears that if I react with disapproval and rejection, I give power to what I don’t like and keep it going. Acceptance, on the other hand, seems to open doors to what I do like. Even if the predisposing event has all the makings of being unacceptable.

Isn’t that something?

Brigitte Schneider
aka Ms. Open Sesame

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