It’s natural to feel frustrations when our expectations aren’t met. However, continuing to feel frustration rarely helps us, and may cause unnecessary suffering for us and those around us.
The thing is, we don’t necessarily know consciously what our expectations are, until we find that they’re not fulfilled. Now that we are frustrated, we can begin to ask, what was I expecting, and was it realistic?
We might expect that people will understand us the first time we explain a concept. On the surface, that seems reasonable.
Looking a little deeper, we can find out that people normally will not understand a new concept the first time it’s explained, because they’re not used to thinking that way. In fact, that is the challenge of the good communicator - to say things in a way that others understand them.
We started with the belief and expectation that “People should understand me whenever I explain things,” and it led to frustration. Now we can hold onto the more realistic belief: “People will not always grasp a concept the first time I explain it,” and it leads to greater patience.
For the episode player, transcript links and more go to Why We Get Frustrated A Beautiful Thought
