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I have been in a dark place for quite some time now. One prevalent emotion that has engulfed my consciousness is anger in the form of ‘frustration’. The last 12 months have been a rollercoaster, and I have been caught in this battle for my happiness. A lot of my discontent comes from work. I have written about this a couple of times and I do not want to go over it again, but i am writing this post because I realised a lot of people I know are battling the same issue and I hope this post would throw some light on the issue and help us find clarity.

#### <center>HOW I AM DEALING WITH SETBACKS</center>

I have identified that the major source of my frustration is work. The reason for my frustration is due to the fact that I have put a lot of time and money into the business and have lost it all. I wish I had stayed on my original path. However, I have to also come to terms with the fact that I cannot do anything about the past 12 months but learn.

I have learnt a couple of things in business which I shared a couple of days ago. Also, I gained a useful skill that would help me in my future plans. So it hasn’t been a total waste of time. I have had some decent experiences running my business, so I am grateful for that at least.

Also, I am limiting the time and money I spent on the business. I understand it isn’t what I expected it to be and putting in more time and energy won’t change it. These signs were glaring from the onset but I chose to continue. I suppose this is where *regret* comes into the picture. Optimism should not always override reality, and I have learnt this valuable lesson.

The other aspect of a setback is having to deal with emotional baggage from the said experience which is easily triggered by any form of negative emotions. Also, there is this crippling sense of powerlessness that often leads to inactivity. So you are unable to move forward because that hasn’t necessarily gotten you anywhere, so you do nothing, and by doing nothing you increase your frustration and whatever you have left is taken from you.

Fortunately, we all can move past bad experiences irrespective of how we feel. I understand that this might not bring out the very best in us but it is a good step regardless. If we all let our emotions get the best of us, chances are we might achieve nothing. I have written this post and completed my engagement routine for today despite feeling emotionally trapped. I will still make out time to read and take my courses. Even if I am unable to complete all these tasks, I can identify the things I have done to further my long-term plan and that makes the burden of life bearable, and this is how it is going to be until my next big break.

We should all love ourselves as much as we criticised ourselves. We are our biggest critics, but we can as well be our own cheerleaders. Jordan Peterson talks about this in his book, ‘12 Rules of Life”. The burden of Life is soul-crushing but if we can be kind and motivate ourselves to take the leap of faith by believing and taking little steps toward our desired goal we can accomplish a lot. This is the principle by which I live my life.


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