A certain young teenage boy, who will remain nameless, sat on my couch — a victim of self-inflicted gloom.

He didn’t like his music lessons. In fact, he “hated” them!  Can you believe his mother, who also shall remain nameless, had the nerve to make him leave his phone and practice.

His instrument, which shall also remain nameless, was the one he was supposedly learning to play at the music lesson but, because he hated lessons, he didn’t like to practice. Because he didn’t practice, he was not very good at playing his instrument, so lessons were even more miserable. So, instead of just practicing, he slouched on the sofa, crest fallen, in utter frustration and despair.

Ah, what to do with such frustration?

We all feel it for lots of reasons, don’t we? And, many reasons are far more serious than disliking music lessons!  Frustration is like a coin; a big, chunky silver dollar! You can tighten your grip around it so tightly that it makes your knuckles white. You can shove it in your pocket and feel the weight it creates as you try to walk about.  It’s like a clunky piece of metal that just gets in the way unless you spend it or invest it.

If you take that silver dollar and exchange it for a cup of coffee, you experience the benefit of it. If you take that silver dollar and “invest” it in a raffle, your investment could pay huge dividends!

That unnamed teenager was investing his frustration unwisely.  He was stuffing it in the pocket of his soul and growing more irritable. He was gripping it in his heart and allowing it to control him.

We can all learn to invest our frustration wisely.

Don’t let your frustration be destructive, let it be instructive.

Here are 3 things to do with your frustration:

1. Do what you dread. Apply the same energy you use to complain and procrastinate to tackle the task you don’t like.
2. Name one good thing. Instead of pining away and musing endlessly over what frustrates you, apply that same mental energy to focusing on one good thing about your frustrating situation.
3. Coach yourself. Don’t expect anyone to cheer you on and motivate you. Use the endless stream of chatter in your brain to guide yourself into productive action and emotions, rather than allowing them to lead you into a deeper funk.

So, what do you do when you feel frustrated? Leave a comment here.