FROM Annoyance Serenity ΤΟ

SARALA UPADHYA shares her experience as a college professor to come up with a working model for how to manage annoyance both usefully and kindly. She has now reduced her “annoyance factor” making life more serene for herself and those around her.

- SARALA UPADHYA

Imagine you are happily walking on a road enjoying the morning warmth of the sun, soon after a light rain. But then you step in a puddle on the sidewalk and are annoyed at everything for the rest of the day! Or you become aware of the puddle just in time to side-step and walk on as before.

It is said that to be annoyed or to stay calm is an act of volition.

“Let’s start at the very beginning” is a cliché, and can be annoying.

So can “Last but not the least…” followed by a long speech. We may get annoyed at things that sound trivial or even ridiculous, like the noise of nails scratching a wall, scraping a plate with a metal spoon. We may get annoyed if the internet is slow or the traffic holds us up during rush hour; loud conversations on mobile phones in public places, a messy home or workplace—the list is long.