Frustration An Emotional Rollercoaster!

Following the Yellow Brick Road Phenomenon Wizard of Oz

Graphic: Metairie Academy Co-Op.

Most of us know what frustration means in our lives; Some of us may wake up demotivated
in the morning feeling tired, angry, depressed, or just simply miserable to face another empty
day.
The fact is; Frustration is UGLY when left too long to its own devises. I am not going to beat
about the bush with all types of psychological terminology and scientific theories etc. Its
getting down to the human agony at the busy cross-road. Every single culture goes through
this phenomenon. We hate it, we fight it, it makes us irritable. The questions are; What is
frustration? Why do we feel frustrated? In fact: How do we combat it?

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Unfortunately, we all share this at some degree in our lives, some more than others. External
influences; politics, government officials, grumpy bosses, colleagues, educational institutes,
neighbours, family etc. This all leads to internal whiplashes to our egos; who and what we
are as individuals.
We start measuring our self-esteem and present situation with those of others with a
completely perverted mindset that everybody out there has more success, recognition, more
love, more of everything than ourselves. Or, if frustration takes its normal course and goes
amok, then we in for further heavy surprises; Namely the mind starts playing tricks on us. Our
attitudes and behaviour begin to reflect what we believe to be true; namely, that we have
failed to achieve our goals. Yes. It is a cruel process of events that start to occur, eating away
at our personality, our thoughts, our hopes, dreamswho we are as humans, only to be left
with a handful of crumbs.
Reality is nasty when we allow ourselves to engage in comparisons with the haves and have
nots out there. Unfortunately, we are brainwashed day in, and day out. A typical example is
a success story about a couple or a start-up firm who made their millions overnight. The story
tellers tell us we can share in this amazing opportunity if we follow their method. Pay 1000
Dollars and we can guarantee you immediate results! You pay your fee only to find out it is
another scam!
Another myth is about us ladies out there who chase after every new, exciting anti-wrinkle,
big-boob operation, diet treatment on the health and beauty market that swears to hell that
their product, injections, cosmetic operations and wonder drugs really work! This feeling of
been attractive and youthful in appearance at whatever costs to our health and category of
acceptance, only feeds a vicious, money hungry industry. We dont even need to discuss the
persuasive advertising industry in detail here. But, I can recall those famous Black Cat Peanut
Butter ads from South Africa that promised every skinny man (on the beach) that if they ate
lots of peanut butter, the result will be a great, muscular body that would turn on all the
females. Of course, most of us can also remember the AXE deodorant ads as well. Yes, the
advertising world prey on our weaknesses for profit. The question is; Why do we chase after
empty promises when we know that the negative long-term benefits clearly outweigh the
odds in the end? Is this rational thinking? Are we all gaga?
Quite simply, it is because we are trying to defeat those negative waves of insecurity in us that
make us unhappy. The pain is intolerable after each disappointment. We chase after every
opportunity to experience some form of happiness in any form. But, our agony becomes worse
as time goes by and the failures start counting their days. We feel defeated by our cruel world.
Everything we do does not make a difference to our lives. Results are often, loneliness,
jealousy, anxiety, neurosis, paranoia, hate, passivity, depression, blaming others for our bad
luck, despair, aggression, dependency, addiction Whew, the list is tedious. We feel trapped,
imprisoned in our own brutal little world.

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We have 2 types of frustration: Low Frustration Tolerance and High Frustration Tolerance
The difference between the two can be very significant. Those with a low frustration tolerance
are more impulsive to express dissatisfaction and anger towards difficult challenges, critic
from others or simple failures. They see their world as the enemy and often react in defence
against this intruding monster. These individuals see themselves as victims, believing in a
conspiracy against them, either by God or mankind in general. That is when things really go
haywire! I guess nobody enjoys the company of such persons in the long run.
Dalai Lama quotes: Those who suffer from an exaggerated sense of their own ability and
accomplishment are continually subject to frustration, disappointment, and rage when reality
intrudes and the world doesn't validate their idealized view of themselves.
Those characters who have a high frustration tolerance can adapt better with life in general.
They learn to master their difficulties by choosing alternative routes to that problem. Quite
simply, they fall back on Plan B or Plan C when Plan A does not function. (Hmm... I havent
heard of anything beyond Plan C). In other words, they have learnt to master their
environment accordingly, even if it means making many sacrifices along the way. Just so long
as they dont start throwing knives around them.
How to cope with frustration
This is when we as professionals draw a line between possibilities and impossibilities. WE
cannot cure every frustrated human being out there. It is like throwing a lucky dice. You either
win or you dont.
There is no perfect recipe for happiness and success. Frustration is caused by so many internal
and external factors. War, unemployment, recession, dictatorship, brutality, religion,
propaganda, divorce, separation, deaths, accidents, poverty, bankruptcy, disasters, famine,
hunger, punishments, refugees, imprisonment, addiction, extreme weather conditions,
terrorism, poaching, modern day slavery, sickness The list is long! All these play a great part
in our mental condition and behaviour. It is very normal to blame our present status on those
factors beyond our influence. The fact is, our survival chances are weakened with every radical
change out of our control. Classical example is the press in every form. The media does not
improve our present frustration levels. In fact, it might even worsen our situation.
Be more selective in how you interpret information from fact versus fiction. I have my
abstinent days when I do not listen, read or think about the local or international news. I have
the free choice not to measure my life and wellbeing based on the rules of the media
world. News can only sell if it is totally exaggerated. Again, journalists also need jobs. Nothing
wrong with all that I guess, so long as it is based on authentic reporting. No need to contribute
more to the crowd frustration levels! To be honest, I get to hear whats going on out there
through reliable and intelligent sources, such as my immediate clients and co. It is up to me to
decide what I want to do with this information. Thats called free choice in a democratic
country.
Okay, now this might sound terribly overwhelming for the most of us that there is no
possibility of light at the end of the tunnel. But as I previously mentioned in the above

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paragraph about no perfect recipe for happiness and success, there is a chance to cheat
on frustration if it lies in our power for change; I have watched the film Forest Grump several
times because it strikes an inner core in me that we are so unique as human beings. Why
should we want to exchange our personalities or lives with someone else? Would that make
us more loved, accepted, special, successful in the long run?
The bad news is: There is no Yellow Brick Road to follow. It is like searching for that gold pot
at the end of a rainbow.
However, the good news is: Shake hands with your frustration. Make friends with him and
then decide to invest your energy in yourself and the people who mean more to you than
anything else in the world; Your loved ones (that is, if you still have any relationships left).
When you subtract all those negative, outside factors from your life, you are left with an
amazing realisation that two-thirds of your life has been wasted by following that Yellow Brick
Road. The rest is up to you now . . .