Here's how to release frustration without making a fool of yourself
TL;DR: New Text Document.txt and delete it later
Vent (noun): The release or expression of a strong emotion, energy, etc.
People are dumb. No matter how zen you are at your core, chances are people get on your nerve every once in a while. Its stupid to underestimate people’s stupidity.
When and why to vent?
People have their own agendas, value systems, beliefs, which are not always aligned to how we want them to be. And its fine. We don’t actually want everybody to be like us. That would be a very boring world indeed.
But once the plateau of frustration passes, we feel something boiling inside our gut and brains. How could he/she? What was he/she thinking? At times like these, its essential to vent. Because that build up anger is doing no one any good. Its like a balloon being filled with gas non-stop. You are the balloon. You know if you don’t release some of it you’re going to burst.
The thinking behind New Text Document.txt
Paper has more patience than a person
This is what I do, I open up my computer, create a new text document and just let myself flow. Depending on how angry I am I write as fast as I’m thinking, make a typo every two words and just keep on slamming the poor keyboard. Figuratively speaking I’m frothing at the mouth and my computer is getting all of it.
I put everything and anything that is bothering me in that document. I bleed on that document. Then I simply delete it. Sometimes I don’t even read over what I’ve written. Just that fact that I’ve released whatever was making me angry and now I can stop focusing on the problem and start focusing on the solution instead is so liberating.
How this helps:
- Once you start putting your anger in words, you see clearly what is it that is making you angry. Is it the person or the situation or is it your inner insecurity about something?
- Chances are you’re angry on more than one thing. For me it’s always a culmination of little things, some tit bits of people and situations that make me go over the edge. Putting it into words will make you really understand and help you better express your frustration. This is huge in relationships.
- If I can’t put in words what exactly some person did to make me angry, chances are I’m probably angry/anxious at something else.
- You untangle (read unfuck) yourself. The way it works is once you release what’s bothering you, you free up those mental resources which were unnecessarily busy earlier and redirect your mind to focus on something productive instead.
*Bonus point: It might make you better at writing.*
Deleting the Vent doc
Yeah let’s call it a vent doc who cares.
Deleting the vent document is equally as important. Why would you want to keep that negativity around? Venting means releasing your emotions, not storing it.
This is the main difference between venting it out on paper and venting it out to another person. Paper has more patience and less memory. Whereas if you go and ask a friend to lend you an ear, even if they don’t want to they’ll remember some of the dialogue, which is not very desirable to anyone I think. So vent it out on paper and save yourself from stupid apologies later like ‘Sorry about what I said when I was angry’.
You can also record yourself on audio and video and then try to listen to yourself. If you’re anything like me you’ll get cringed out by your voice so much that you’ll end up deleting it as soon as possible, laugh if off and would’ve released your anger successfully.
