the longest journey begins with a single step

   How to avoid blowing your stack with someone who pushes your buttons? That is exactly my question. You know who they are – those people who constantly irritate you …people you constantly interact with; like coworkers, neighbors, flatmates… friends or friends of your friends or even family members… sometimes they’re the people you just see regularly at public places like in groceries… or whoever gets into your nerves… whoever they may be… No matter how much they annoy you, Be strong… Control your rage. Don’t lose your temper. Overcome that urge to punch him/her! You’re just gonna end up hurting your fist…  Don’t let anyone who annoys you see that s/he gets to you… The more s/he sees that he can push your button, the more s/he would try to annoy you… with so much sign of irritation you exert, that just represent how much hold s/he has over you… It shows the amount of power s/he has over your emotions…  would you let this person win?
First try meditation, but if that doesn’t work, hehe…try my following tips…
·         Immediately upon being irritated by someone, take a deep, slow breathe with your eyes closed… in your mind count 1 to 20…

·         Deal with it ala Peter Pan… Think of happy thoughts… Try to remember fondest moment of your life, and bask in the warm glow of the good feelings that you have when you think of that moment.

·         Analyze in what why this annoying person keeps bothering you… Does s/he want anything? Did you fail to do something which caused them to approach you? If there is a question, task, chore, favor, or whatsoever this person asked to/from you…if it wouldn’t cost you so much and to avoid further encounter with him or her, you better get over and done with it immediately…

·         Cut the conversation short… Say just one line repeatedly, like if you failed to something, “I apologize, I’m going to do it ASAP”…whatever words s/he throws at you… just keep answering the same thing… if the issue is a bit complicated say “I need some time to think about this” and then think about what faults you might have as well as the ones they might have.

·         Find a secluded and private place where you can express your angry feelings out loud (quietly) and then resolve to let them go, like dandelion seeds in the breeze. If you didn’t have a chance to punch that person, don’t hit the wall… again, you’re just gonna end up hurting your fist. If you feel the need to vent out, talk to a friend… Or release your anger through writing down how you feel…after letting it out, you’d feel relieved…  this really works for me! (“,)

·         As much as possible, just avoid the person who irritates you. period.

·         Pray! Before talking to the person who irritates you big time, pray first… or you can utter prayer under your breath while talking to him/her… pray before leaving the house… whatever you do, pray… pray that God will give you strength to deal with situation…pray that you can overcome your anger… pray that you won’t say or do things that you would surely regret…

             I once read that sometimes the reason why we get irritated by someone is because they reflect something about ourselves… like our tendencies to be mean, our want to settle things physically… or how ill-tempered we can get or how easily we snap… We are annoyed with them because they bring out the worst in us… Well I think that sometimes annoying people serve a purpose in our lives… They can be reminder of who we are …what we need to change in our attitude… However, there are just certain people who are plainly annoying!