I live in a 100-year old building in NYC. It’s very high on charm and fortunately, relatively low on problems. But, due to it’s age, when problems arise they can be major. A gas leak, for example. Gas leak situations are not treated lightly in New York City, and so our gas has been off for almost three weeks. For us it means no cooking and no dryers for our laundry – not the worst by any stretch, just not what we’re used to.

There’s been a range of reactions in the building and they started off positive:

• “Better safe than sorry!”
• “In the grand scheme of life…”
• “What a great way to justify my tendency to eat out!”

But as the situation has dragged on, frustration and even outrage have set in. And I get it, I bought groceries to cook up a bunch of recipes the very morning of the day the gas went out. While I do mind that stuff I couldn’t give away went to waste, what could I do about it, why get overly upset?

Truth be told, I could outsource my laundry, but since it’s the one household chore I don’t mind doing and maybe even enjoy a little–and certainly I prefer the way I do it–why pay more? That means today I’m sitting in the laundromat and I have to admit, there’s something oddly hypnotic about watching your clothes and towels tumble around and around in the dryer.

This has been a big practice for me in managing my frustration in a situation I can’t control. What are you doing to manage frustrating situations that leave you with minimal options and no apparent end in sight? For this particular one, I keep turning to one of my favorite Chinese proverbs: