An interesting reflection by Ajahn Chah on the way we let things get under our skin and bother us. We often allow events to annoy us because of our fixed idea of how things ought to be, or following an ideal schedule which we have made up, and then blame reality for not following it. Most suffering is caused by our mind  having a set idea of how things should be and clinging to that thought,  or by repeating patterns triggerred by events in our past, rather than tuning in to how things actually are.  We can see if this is the case when we get bothered today,  and maybe drop the idea we have in our heads, tuning into a more direct experiencing of what is going on.

In our practice we think that noises, cars, voices sights are distractions that come and bother us when we want to be quiet. But who is bothering who?  Actually we are the ones who go and bother them. The car,  the sound,  is just following its own nature. We bother things through some false idea that they are outside us and clean to the ideal of remaining quiet, undisturbed. Learn to see that it is not things that bother us, that we go out to bother them. See the world as a mirror. It is all a reflection of our mind. When you know this, you can grow in every moment, and every experience reveals truth and brings understanding.

Ajahn Chah, A Still Forest pool.