Traffic jams, phone calls that don’t get returned, email spam, long line-ups, bad service, depressing news stories – it all adds up to frustration in our modern world.

I wake up each morning expecting it all to change. But it doesn’t.

Then I realized recently that it can.

Simply by changing how I see things.

1. Traffic jams allow me time for contemplation and inner reflection, time I otherwise do not have.
2. When someone doesn’t reply to a phone message or email, I now say to myself “their loss.”
3. Email filtering isn’t perfect but mine is now set to block out everything except people I know. Suddenly, my inbox is very quiet.
4. I now appreciate long line-ups that give me time to catch up on my reading.
5. When met with bad service, I politely explain how I feel the service could be improved upon. It is estimated that 80 per cent of customers who have a bad experience never reveal it to the company. They just walk away – a missed opportunity to make that firm a better place. As a business owner myself, I know the value of constructive criticism.
6. To address the depressing stories in the news, some experts advocate just turning the news off. But I watch now and think about how I could help.
7. Everyone is busy these days. If you ask someone how they’re doing, the reply is “I am so busy!” But now, when asked how I am, I say, “Great. Everything is under control.” It’s not what people expect. And while it’s not 100 per cent accurate, 100 per cent of the time, it makes me feel better.

God gave us one life. Just one. We can spend it in endless frustration. Or we can sit back, take it all in stride and see the up side of every circumstance.

Smile, don’t sweat it, enjoy your life.