Dealing with agitation

 Some people and experiences in life agitate you? Why does this happen?

Agitation occurs when people and situations don't respond or act as you hope for or expect. For example as an educator, agitation would occur when I carefully planned a personalized lesson for a group of children and then the lesson didn't go as I expected. That led me back to my planning to assess why that happened. Agitation also occurred when I worked with a group of people, and some didn't respond as I expected or desired. This agitation was greatest when people reacted in direct opposition to what I expected to happen. Why did they act that way? Why were my expectations so off track? 

Agitation is a wake-up call. If you are agitated, you have to examine why, and then respond in ways that will remedy or at least help a situation. 

For example, I was recently agitated by a correspondence. The notice was polite, timely, and on point, but yet the words agitated me. Why? With a bit of analysis, I realized I was agitated because the situation related to the correspondence was not going in a direction I valued, and I didn't have much control over the situation. Similarly, as an educator, issues that agitated me were often issues I had little control over. What do you do in situations like this?

I believe the best we can do is the following:

  1. Seek to have input or voice about how a situation is managed. It's best to try to have input first before giving up--share your ideas in a sensitive way, be open to collaboration, debate, and discussion. See if you can impact the team approach in a positive way. 
  2. If your ideas for collaboration and share don't work, then you have to figure out your place in the situation. You may have to leave some of your dreams for the situation behind, but still hold on to what you can do to contribute in positive ways. 
  3. You will likely have to change some of your behaviors too--it's likely that what you do or say plays a negative role in situations that agitate you. You'll have to understand that and make changes to better the situation. 
  4. If the situation really bothers you and you believe deeply in your point of view, you may have to seek collaboration and strength elsewhere to promote your ideas, beliefs, and good work. There is power in numbers, and if you find your voice lost with some groups, you may need to seek out other groups that respect and embrace your voice and actions. 
In the current agitation situation I noted, I recognized that it is not a grave situation that requires lots and lots of energy. Instead, it is the kind of situation where I have to find my place and complete my work well, then leave the rest of the situation to those in charge. Though not what I would consider ideal, it does not hold the gravity that requires greater action than resetting my expectations and contribution. 

At school there were times when agitation moved me to find new groups and greater advocacy--those were more serious situations that I could not give up on. 

Agitation ignored becomes greater, agitation dealt with in positive ways lead to better living. Onward.