April first brings a day of pranks being pulled and laughs being shared for many people. For some, April Fool’s Day can be a day of stress, frustration and anger. Your mental health can influence many parts of your life including how you perceive things. If you perceive an April fool’s joke as malicious or insensitive, reacting with anger or frustration can be appropriate. The reality of the situation though is that most April Fool’s jokes are innocent with no malintent for their target.
There are different tools that can be utilized when feelings of anger or frustration begin to influence your thoughts and actions. Mindfulness is a practice that involves attempting to look at situations as they presently are. The purpose of mindfulness is to help you look at a situation in a more objective way, which can result in your level of anger lowering. When you are feeling angry, mindfulness can also help you to stop fuelling your anger with certain stories but rather shift your focus to your body. When you focus on your body you can attend to what part of your body is the anger felt in. This process can be supportive in distracting the mind, resulting in a lowering of temper.
On April 1st, if you find yourself upset, angry or frustrated, we suggest you practice mindfulness and know that there are people you can turn to with your struggles here at Journey Counselling.
