Four Letter Words

How do you deal with frustration?  Do you walk away from it or do you confront it and deal with it?  Maybe you keep putting it off and it keeps replaying over and over in your life like a never ending story.       

Frustration is something we all deal with.  None of us is immune.

Right now I'm dealing with such a situation.  The analogy I'll use to describe how I feel is like that of an octopus.   It's life is tidy and secure as it's all curled up in a little ball, all its loose pieces (tentacles) securely under wrap and it's snoozing away, comfy and cozy.   

Then, out of nowhere, a tsunami hits (in the form of relatives, next of kin, kids, offspring, etc.) and its ejected out of its little sanctuary exclaiming, what the f**k just happened?

Now I don't know about you but in my home there are chores that have to be done whether you want to do them or not.  They come first and everything else comes second but not if you now have someone in your home who has a completely different view. 

Now everyone is doing their own thing with no regard to what I have to do.  It's like a feeding frenzy.  The little octopus, once so cozy and comfy has been blasted out of its comfort zone, its tentacles wildly askew as it tries to regain its bearings. 

It would be helpful, it would be nice, it would be courteous, if they visitors respected what I have to do vs. what they have to do.  Mutual respect can flow both ways especially when you're the one supplying all their wants and needs.

But nooooo, this is not to be the case as they have made that abundantly clear.  Their goals have now superseded mine as they feel that theirs are vastly more important.    
Obviously you've made it very clear that a simple "thank you" would be appreciated, a simple offer of help, maybe paying for the fuel you're using to haul them around or an occasional night out, at their expense.

Sorry to say that none of this is occurring. 

The truth of the matter is that this person has always been oblivious to anything or anyone outside of their own little comfort zone, their own little view of the world as they have always demonstrated that they come first, you come second.   

So seeing that nobody's gonna do anything about anything let's just chalk this up to one of life's painful learning experiences.

And my solution for this frustration is the realization that it is only temporary as they are in the midst of moving out.   

And I say, "the sooner they're outta here the better,"

So, you see, I didn't have to resort to name calling, four letter words, calling in the mob or starving them to death (although I do think that might've worked).     

I just had to wait for the situation to resolve itself.

Sometimes things just work out if you don't reach for the panic button, although I did come awfully close. 
     ~Nightshade