I had to double check that I hadn’t already written a post about frustration because it plays a rather large role in my life in the worst way possible. Of all of the negative emotions in the world, there isn’t one that affects me more than frustration. I’ve always found it to be the worst negative emotion, overwhelming me and preventing any sort of solution.
What’s problematic about this is that most of my frustration is related to work of some sort. Usually, this is school assignments or projects or something of that sort. When dealing with those sorts of things, the most important part is to find a solution and get it done. Unfortunately, frustration is designed perfectly to keep itself alive by preventing you from finding that solution or being able to think clearly at all. There have been way too many hours spent studying for tests or exams where I banged my head against my table (physically and metaphorically) out of frustration over lack of understanding and continually trying to understand in this state of frustration.
The worst kind of frustration isn’t this though. No, not at all. The worst frustration is the one that stems from the realization of wasted time. It’s the frustration that you can do absolutely nothing about, even in the clearest mind. This is the frustration that comes at the end of the day when you look at the empty boxes next to the items on your to-do list and the massive pile of work on your desk that hasn’t changed in size over the last 12 hours. It’s that pressure on your chest that you feel as anxiety overtakes you and you begin to panic about how you’re gonna pass that AP Physics Exam thats in exactly 7, well now 6, days. It’s the frustration that comes back every night around the same time because you aren’t being any more productive than the day before despite berating yourself that night in hopes to combat that frustration.
Nikhil Sethi 