Re-channeling Frustration

How frustrating! I am so frustrated. You frustrate me. Traffic is frustrating. Being interrupted frustrates me.

After a while the word doesn't even look or sound right; that's frustrating. And, the definition starts to confuse me; that's frustrating.

I am one of those people that believe we create, and should own, our emotional responses to the world around us. Frustration is a "reaction" to something. I may react in frustration; but you can frustrate me with your response or in-action to an issue or circumstance. So, it's unlike anger whereby I make myself angry? You do not make me angry. . .I become angry? So you CAN frustrate me?

Webster's definition for frustrate:

" 1a: to balk or defeat in an endeavor b: to induce feelings of discouragement in; 2a: (1) to make ineffectual: bring to nothing (2): impede, obstruct; b: to make invalid or of no effect."

"to check or defeat another's plan or block achievement of a goal; making vain or ineffectual efforts however vigorous or persistent; checking or defeating by discouraging further effort; confusing or puzzling; interposing of obstacles or hindrances."

The origin of the word comes from the Latin "to deceive, in error, in vain." So, you can do something to deceive me and I can do something in vain; all resulting in frustration?

Frustration can restrict us to a an emotional paralysis or can motivate us to overcome the obstacle and forge on with our desired achievement. My frustration can be a result of my internal factors - laziness or lack of effort - or external factors - reduction in corporate spending to support my project.

I typed the word "frustration" as a news headline, into the search engine to find out what are our global "obstacles". I suspected the economy, global warming, health care reform and war. Here are a few of the results:

"Frustration Keeps Rising for Jacobs, Not Giants." a sports story
"Traffic James are Eco-Friendly." something about the level of driver frustration turning them into subway riders.
"Leading Off - Frustration at Fenway." another sports story
"Obama Meets Critics in New Orleans." now, those people in NOLA really have something to be frustrated about.
"Judge Halts Mandatory Flu Vaccines for Health Care Workers." lots of stories about H1N1 came up in the search.
"Zimbabwe Opposition Boycotts Unity Government." using frustration in this context in an understatement.
"Backlogs continue to frustrate progress at the VA." and still to no avail.

The search yielded 10,000+ results.

I submit that we're all frustrated and are wandering around in circles like a bunch of wind up dolls bumping against the walls of a cardboard box. We need to re-channel our energies and push the frustration levels to action and problem solving. I was so frustrated this morning because I was feeling "under the weather". I laid around and whined, then I got up and wrote something. I feel better. Now I need to solve the issues of world peace and global warming. Want to join me?