Frustration is Something We Cannot Escape

I have spent the last four months of my professional life getting ready for an audacious change in how music therapy is offered at my facility. I asked for and received assurances that the change will indeed happen. Two days ago, I found out that the change will not happen after all. The people who were continuously assuring and reassuring me that the ideas and changes that I had proposed (on their behest) had not checked with the people who sign my paychecks. So, in one fell swoop, my months of planning dissolved.

I am feeling frustrated.

Unfortunately, frustration is an emotion that I have become familiar with over my years as a human being. I'm sure that we all have experienced this emotion a time or two in our lives. The trick is to acknowledge the emotion, allow yourself to feel that emotion fully, and then move into a new emotional state when you are able to do so.

My primary cure for a frustration funk is a new project.

The problem with this frustration funk is that the original idea for the change was my solution for yet another frustration funk. Oh dear. I am now back at the first place I was in about a year ago - the original frustration funk. So, now it's time to re-evaluate my situation and see if there is a different solution. We will see if I can do that.

Here are my frustration tips:

1. Identify what is fueling the emotion in you - Think about themes to the emotion. Are you more frustrated after interactions with particular people? Are you reacting to specific traits or programs or situations?
2. Allow yourself to fully experience the emotion - Find a time and a place where you can act on the emotion that you are feeling. (It occurs to me that these tips can be transferred to any emotion - Duh moment...) Allow your emotion to be fully expressed in a medium of your choice. (I like art journaling, personally. Oh, and blogging!)
3. Establish a routine for resolving the emotion - If you need to resolve the emotion (I don't believe that all emotions need to be resolved, but frustration is something that I absolutely have to address for my own mental health), try techniques to assist you in resolving the emotion. If talking to a trusted person is your resolution, then do it! If journaling or blogging is your way, do that. If you have a routine and it doesn't seem to work this time, adjust your routine. 
4. Remove the cause - If you can identify a particular cause for the emotion, evaluate whether you can adjust the cause in order to change the effect. If you cannot seem to change the situation, remember that there comes a time when the only way to "solve" a situation is to leave that situation behind you.

With my current situation, I am still stuck in step 2. I am allowing myself to feel frustrated with the roll back in my present plans. I am trying to decide how to proceed from step 2 and get into steps 3 and 4. In the meantime, I am finishing my school year and getting ready for our extended school year after a two-week break. I hope that will assist me in moving on.