Good frustrations

(think “Good Vibrations” the song here!)

Over a Casa Dixson pizza dinner on Saturday night in Butare, some of us were musing about our frustrations at work, living in Rwanda, etc. I will not get into specifics, but we all have frustrations about living here. Anyone who has lived overseas for longer than a few months (especially in a developing country) will understand where I am coming from. With these frustrations come a desire to want to change it somehow, and after multiple attempts at changing the system, the realization sets in that it will either take a lot longer to change than one thought or not change at all. And we discussed how strange it is that we get fired up over certain frustrations over other ones. It wasn’t all serious; we even discussed kids, politics, and Cleveland sports (sigh…)

The next day I was having coffee with one of the dinner guests who had only spent a month here in Rwanda, and was on her way back to the US to complete her training. She said something that has really stuck with me: our frustrations are good. I asked her to explain. She said that those frustrations were coming from a place of true caring, of compassion for our work and our lives here in Rwanda. While frustrating, we should use those “good frustrations” to find the drive and the will to continue to do the good work that we are doing. Her observation really put things in perspective, and I have been thinking about it ever since.

I am reminded of the Serenity Prayer, something I learned growing up in Catholic school and that I have learned to use while here:

“God, Grant me the Serenity to Accept the Things I cannot Change, the Courage to Change the Things I Can, and the Wisdom to Know the Difference.”

Lesson for the day: May we all learn how to deal with frustrations, to find solutions, and find peace in the process.

Until next time…

Love life, Find meaning, Be Happy,

Craiger