When it comes to clothes, shoes, lingerie, comfort comes above all else for me.

So that rules out synthetics, stilettos & corsets. Comfy cottons, strap on flats & functional innerwear is the staple in my wardrobe. Speaking of wardrobes, I recently went to War with my robes, disrobing all of them from those infuriating tags that are strategically positioned at the most sensitive point of the nape of your neck to indicate the brand & size. This I figure is a strategy to ensure customers remain brand & size conscious at all times. I felt a deep sense of triumph at sanitizing my wardrobe thus, paving the way for comfortable times.

Subjecting this to a post mortem analysis, I wondered how a tiny irritant could sometimes bring the entire concentration on to a small square inch of space.

A small cuticle nipped, a stub on the little toe, an abrasive spot of a shoe bite, a tiny piece of fiber stuck in the most unreachable corner of your tooth that only the tongue can reach, a few seconds of the high decibel reverse horn shattering the quietness, a dripping faucet when you are tossing & turning to get into the most comfortable posture for some peaceful sleep, the guttural sounds from the ablutions of your neighbor, especially if you are sharing a wall in an apartment…. I am sure you can add more to this list.

In similar vein I also ruminated on the many social irritants.

The snore that has a rhythm, frequency & other tonal nuances of its own, the photo bombers, the story spoilers, the bathroom wetters, the honkers, the interrupters who don’t let you finish a single sentence, the co-passenger on the train who eyes your newspaper/magazine or the pen borrower- there are a host of them. The walker who will choose the narrow walking track, clap his hands forward & backward, to the loud music from his mobile phone, is someone I want to throttle the life out of.

Of course, the top ranked new age epidemic is the Good Morning, Good Night & philosophizing quotes & forwards on social media. They need to enable some filters to eliminate these.

Is it advancing age, my low tolerance levels & I that is the problem? If so how do I inoculate myself?

If there are more like me out there, read on.

Disarming your buttons is the key to inoculate oneself against these daily hassles.

Albert Ellis the Founder of Rational Emotive Behavior therapy said that the only way to alter negative feelings is to alter the thoughts precipitating them.

The ‘go- to’ strategy would be to steer clear of such people or possibilities.

If this is not practical then the use of Self- talk to diffuse the annoying situation/person is the key to psychological welfare.

If you don’t want to or cannot punch/throttle your button pushers into silence a more positive approach would be the ‘Relaxation reminders’. These are self-talk phrases such as

‘Take a deep breath & relax’, ‘check your body for tension & relax whatever feels tight’, ‘I can stay calm in all this’.

Sometimes you will be saying this through clenched teeth & fist, but slowly, very slowly you can see the tolerance seeping in.

Also readying you for difficult interactions by giving yourself some pep talk like ‘ I can deal with it ‘ works.

Physical or psychological violence will only aggravate rather than dissipate so ‘keep calm & handle it’

To remove the brand tag I just needed a stitch remover & a pair of scissors but social irritants can’t be snipped off as easily- one has to endure the discomfort

cure yourself by some timely social inoculation.