Annoyed or inspired?

Imagine that you’re sitting at your desk, attempting to get some work done. But every few seconds, there’s a mysterious beeping sound coming from your computer. At first, you don’t pay much attention to it. Yet very quickly it becomes annoying. There’s a beep. Then a short pause. Then another beep. Then another and another. Soon you reach the point where you just can’t get any work done because of all the beeps.

Then you find out that every time the computer beeps, you get paid $50. Suddenly, that beeping sound is not annoying at all. In fact, you quickly find that you like it very much. It becomes positively soothing, encouraging you to get your work done. You look forward to hearing it again and again. In fact, when there’s a long pause between the beeps, you get a little bit concerned. You look for ways to make it beep more.

In this example, consider what makes the difference between being annoyed and being inspired. The beeping sound is exactly the same, whether you’re annoyed by it or inspired by it. The difference is solely in how you interpret it. Nothing is annoying in and of itself. Things are as they are. It’s you who is adding the annoyance (and the inspiration, for that matter).

Are there opportunities for fulfillment that you’re avoiding because some of the steps to getting there might be unpleasant or annoying? Realize that those things are annoying only because you think of them as such. You can choose instead to think of them as stepping stones on the path to fulfillment. And that might just make them a lot less annoying.