Annoyance is the inflammation that occurs after a mild emotional injury or wound.
Like a physical inflammation, if it’s not cared for it can become infected.
The difference is that an annoyance is easier for us to control. We can invest the energy to build a habit about what we do when an emotional injury occurs. We can develop a pattern of letting go.
Susan David differentiates between the healed emotional injuries (our scars) and the fresh ones (our wounds.) Sometimes, it’s tempting to gain intimacy and engagement by sharing our wounds with strangers, but it might be helpful to share our scars, our history, instead.
And in the meantime, we can build a practice to manage our annoyance.