Intrinsic Irritation
Life has little moments that grate against us. Slowing down for conventional toll booths just to throw change into the basket every couple of exits, not finding enough of a specially-priced item on the shelf at the store, plastic packaging that requires tools to extricate items and getting into the car and finding the gas tank low all rank as incidents that create the feeling of irritation. We think they could be prevented. We have special reactions to irritation that range from groans to profanity to demonstrate our dissatisfaction.
Sensitive Irritation
A rash or other physical reaction helps to identify that something has negatively affected our sensitive system. This helps us understand what is bothering babies, allergy sufferers, freshly shaved faces and stiff joints. We tend to these irritations so that they don’t get worse and require even more intense attention. For sensitive people, it may not be possible to see how they are affected by the sore left behind by someone else’s remark or rudeness. Even when not deliberate, these invisible ailments leave a mark. There may even be after effects that result in increased isolation or at minimum a disinterest in getting too close again.
Irritation Tracking
It’s important to notice when you feel aggravated. It’s critical to see if it occurs around the same people or times of the day. They are clues to what thoughts are creating the frustration. When you can either eliminate those sources or step back and examine those moments to see how they happen, you can begin to determine what part your thoughts are playing in the creation. Having bothersome thoughts that are attached to a particular interaction are screaming at you to let you know that there is an obstacle to your safety. Your early warning system is letting you know that your sensitivity meter is going off. If you can pause to witness what this person is evoking in you, you are more than halfway to slowing down the response. You have to dig to figure out what it is that is irking you. Only you will really know. It is best to start with watching these moments with no preconceived ideas about the subject to get the data. It is hard to do because we have so much evidence built up already.
Restored
Healing has a strange secondary effect. When resentments, aggravations, outrage or indignations disappear, the newly-healthy part is stronger. The simple, but not easy, act of examining and caring for a continuing sore provides a template to fixing other areas and building on the feeling that comes with living with more ease. Not expecting the same outcome that just brought pain before leaves a wider door to let new feelings emerge. You can suspend treatment and enjoy the feeling that you are in control of writing the subscription for a healthy life. Leave irritation to the oysters; they already figured out how to make pearls.
Do you anticipate irritation from particular people or times in your day? Can you use your power to eliminate those unwanted moments? How would you rather feel about a person who frustrates you?
