Here are a  few irritating situations, that you have possibly found yourself in at certain times – they are not ranked in any particular order:

• Potholes
• Load shedding
• Robots out
• Corruption
• Poor service
• Running late
• Traffic jams
• Reporting a phone line fault and being put on hold
• Incompetence
• Cueing at the check-out till and then cueing at the security desk to have your just paid bill stamped
• Lost luggage
• Reporting a problem to the technical department and being put through to three different people each of which you have to tell your whole story and then being cut off while being transferred to the fourth department

Irritation is the state of feeling annoyed, impatient or slightly angry. It causes an unsettling reaction, be it emotionally or physically.

Why do certain things irritate us so much?

These are all things that are out of the ordinary, a slight deviation from the normal that is often not caused by ourselves – these are things that affect us that we are not in control of. We are left feeling victimised and picked on – "Why does this have to happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?"

As said, these are things that we don’t always have control over.   So it is how we deal with these situations that will determine the extent or our feeling annoyed, impatient or slightly angry. We all have different irritation levels which are pegged differently on any said day. What irritates us profusely the one day we laugh at the next.

It is our state of mind that makes us react in certain ways to any given situation.

Do we get to choose our reaction to an irritation? Possibly not, but what we are in charge of and can influence is our attitude towards life and our own day to day living. We can rationalize things and try to keep calm and not get slightly angry or be a bit more patient. So, a different way to deal with irritation is perhaps to respond rather than react.  Take a moment to breathe, chill and think if you can change anything about the situation and then respond according to your answer.  This will have a far better impact on your psyche and outlook on life.  

I strongly believe that we are in charge of our own well-being and our happiness.   So what are you doing for your inner happiness and well-being?

Try making a concerted effort to not get irritated by the other road users, get into your car consciously not being riled by anyone’s actions. Leave yourself enough patience and time to get to your destination and arrive relaxed.

Have you ever compiled a list of things that irritate you? Make a list of your 10 most irritating things in your life and check which one’s you can change and which one’s you are not in control of.   Might it change your outlook and save you a few grey hairs and keep you calmer?

Hey and don’t forget to make that STOP-doing list.  Has it even changed since the last time you made it?  If it is getting longer then clearly you need to check it out and STOP.