So I’ve got a bit of an interesting story for you guys. It might seem like I’m rambling a bit, but I promise—there’s a point to it.

To start off, I really love artistic tattoos. I have a lot of respect for people with good taste in tattoos and even more respect for the artists who can so masterfully create them. I think that it’s a very unique and intimate way of expressing both artistic talent and personal identity. Of course, like any other form of self-expression or art, choosing or executing it poorly can have drastic consequences, so something like a tattoo requires a great deal of forethought and planning before following through. A well-placed and well-chosen tattoo can be so enhancing and flattering, while a hastily-chosen and poorly placed tattoo will amount to a disastrous, expensive mistake. I have wanted certain tattoos for quite a while now, but due to the expense and the surety of mind required to choose them, inking up hasn’t exactly been my highest priority lately.

But recently, a unique opportunity arose for me. A nearby tattoo parlor held a special event: everyone that showed up could receive one free monochromatic tattoo, no bigger than the width of a quarter. Normally, a tattoo of even that size can cost $50. After checking that the parlor was a quality, legitimate establishment, I immediately jumped at the chance. I drove the half-hour to the parlor with some friends to all get our first tattoos. I had decided to get a small Celtic Trinity knot in black on my right inner wrist, and I was more than excited. This was gonna be my first tattoo after all, and I was lucky enough to get it for free!

Well, needless to say, word got around about this event. Like, a lot. I mean, it’s free tattoos—makes sense, right? But not even the people who owned the parlor could’ve predicted that over 2,000 people would show up, eager for a tattoo. Long story short, even after standing in line in the cold for quite some time, writing down our contact info at the parlor, and taking numbered tickets, there were still over 300 people that never got a chance to have their tattoos done before the event ended—including my friends and I. Seven hours later--tired, cold, and thoroughly disgruntled--we had to drive back home in the dark.

I’d really like to say that I maturely handled the disappointment of waiting for that long for my tattoo without getting it. I’d love to tell you that I took it well—but it wouldn’t do me any good to lie to you guys. To be perfectly honest, I was sadly one inch away from livid. I drove back home in bitter silence, white knuckles clenching the steering wheel in a death-grip. It didn’t matter that the parlor told everyone that missed out to save their tickets, which could still be redeemed at the next event. It didn’t matter that I’d technically still had a really good day hanging out with my friends. Nope. All my little one-track mind cared about was pouting over not getting my tattoo.

It took about an hour and a half before I finally cooled down enough to realize how ridiculous I was behaving. So what if I didn’t get my quarter-sized tattoo like I’d hoped? I’d still had a great time out with my friends. I’d even still be able to get the tattoo later on. Besides, I should’ve suspected something like this might happen with an event like this.

The bottom line of this is that frustration is going to strike us constantly as adults—many times, it’ll hit at the worst possible moment. The last thing we’ll want to do is shrug it off and keep calm, but that’s exactly what we need to do. We just need to take it in stride and keep going. If not, we run the risk of letting the frustration wreck our day even more than the problem at hand already has.

I know this may sound like childish, common sense, but this is seriously something that I see a lot of supposed “grownups” dealing with on a daily basis. Maybe this isn’t such a childish thing to remember after all, but rather a lifelong truth to constantly keep in mind. Don’t let one thing derail you—instead, rise above it. Move on. Be better than that. Keep your head up high.