Use your frustration as a mirror.
We hired a contractor to landscape our front yard. He was talented as a designer, but unreliable, disappearing for days when the surf was good. I would call him and he would make promises that he didn’t keep half the time. I was so aggravated by his behavior. Then Joyce Meyer did a teaching on not “taking the speck out of your brother’s eye, when you have a timber in your own” her advice from Matthew 7:3-5.
“Use that person as a mirror” is a summary of what she suggested. As in, “Is there some area in your life where YOU are stumbling in a similar way? Take care of that!” I decided to put her advice to use and make myself a challenge. Can I tackle my procrastination and get our office organized before the contractor shows back up to finish the job? This was a much better place to put my mind and efforts instead of fretting about the landscaper’s daily choices and priorities.
Then when I was nervous about my brother being out of work and wanting to suggest for the 3rd time “Try this”, and “Try that..”, in other words be an annoying busy body, I decided again to check in with my own procrastination. Maybe I could wrangle the clutter in our garage before he landed a job. When I was brushing up against my own obstacles, it reminded me that tasks aren’t always as simple as they appear. It put my energy to positive use, so I wasn’t quick to offer unsolicited advice. I could be supportive and compassionate instead, and work on my own issues.
And by the way, I think the landscaper and my brother beat me to the finish on both counts. We now had a beautiful flagstone porch, my brother chose to go back to college and I reduced our wall of storage in the garage, being positive, productive and non judgmental in the process – so we all won.