I prefer to be a positive person which means that I am constantly aware of actions that are the direct opposite of that. So I’ve been retraining myself and have discovered that Freedom Writing is one of the best ways to vent frustrations without prolonging a situation. For example, there are many circumstances where I wanted to send an email in which I tell someone what they’ve done that bothers me or what is going on with me that isn’t good or something that someone else has done that I don’t like, etc. As we all have. Instead I now write the whole email and read it over, often more than once to make sure it says everything I wanted to say and in the way I want it to. Then I realize that I actually have no reason to send it because it won’t accomplish anything good. So I save it, just in case, and I’m done (others may choose to burn it). I’m finding that this is really a great tool. I get to say what I needed to say without it affecting the other person or making it a dramatic issue. There may be times we need to actually speak to someone when venting or to resolve an issue, but usually we can find our own (and often better) solutions if we just stay with it for a bit. Meditation is very helpful with this. As is turning the situation into something positive by thinking about it in a different way (a whole other topic for a different day). So the next time you are upset and have the urge to express that to someone, stop and write it out.