One thing you’d learn from relationships is how to make sacrifices. Your short-tempered girlfriend, assuming you have one, will really test the limits of your ability to make sacrifices.
Your short-tempered girlfriend just doesn’t make you feel like strangling her sometimes, her attitude can also affect others in your circle.
Friends and family may decide to avoid you two because they are scared of her abrasive personality. Colleagues and bosses too would avoid you when she is around.
To put it mildly, your short-tempered girlfriend would impact your life in more ways than you can possibly predict. And the situation never gets better unless you do something about it.
You might think you will get used to it. But unfortunately, because you are not the only one suffering the brunt of her attitude, getting used to it is never going to happen.
To save yourself from one day exploding and doing something you would regret, you should consciously put in motion plans to stop that attitude.
So what can you do to deal effectively with your short-tempered girlfriend? Read on to see some workable measures.
You need to work on yourself first
Dealing with a person with such a short fuse can bring out the worse in even the best of us. Unfortunately, if you lose it with your short-tempered girlfriend, you are just compounding the situation.
Basically, two wrongs can’t make a right. You’d constantly need ‘calmness’ in large doses.
So you need to work on your attitude first. You would need to train yourself to be perennially calm in the face of her tantrums.
And if you don’t have a calm personality, make a conscious effort to develop that part of your nature. That is the foundation of dealing effectively with your short-tempered girlfriend.
Improve your communication skills
One of the bedrock of any long-lasting relationship is the ability to communicate very well with your partner. That is non-negotiable.
However, with your short-tempered girlfriend, your communication skills would be put to some serious test. Not once, not twice, but several times.
This is the time you need to learn some lessons from professional crisis managers and diplomats. These are people who are versed in the art of dousing tension with the right words.
Communication though, also refers to knowing when to just shut up.
You need to be patient with her
Again, patience with a partner is one of the bedrock of normal, happy relationships. In this case, you would need a new level of patience.
Here is the thing about short-tempered people, as quickly as they get angry, they calm down in a hurry.
Sometimes, they calm down so fast you even wonder if you dreamed the whole thing. Don’t be surprised if you begin to think she loses her temper just to tease you.
So no matter how tempted you are to do something drastic to her, be patient. Her anger would dissipate with time. Then you can use communication skills to talk to her about what just happened.
It is important you don’t try to engage with her when she’d lost it. She would beat you silly with her experience.
Don’t react to petty issues
In long relationships, it becomes natural to be irritated with something we used to ignore. If your girlfriend is short-tempered, learning to ignore these small irritants would be wisdom personified.
It wouldn’t take you long to realize that your girlfriend reacts on impulse. She hardly stops to think before flaring up. Reacting to her irritating quirks in any way is a sure trigger for her caustic temper
So one good thing your short-tempered girlfriend would teach you is how to ignore petty issues. After all, these are things that even in the short run, are not even important.
Know when to take a step back and simply walk away
Sometimes, with people like this, nothing you do can calm them down. Forget you top-notch negotiating skills. They won’t be of any help in certain circumstances.
As a matter of fact, your presence is likely exacerbating the problem. This is the time to take a step back. And if possible, just walk away calmly.
Walking away doesn’t mean you quit the relationship though. It is just to give her space to calm down. And to give yourself peace to get in the right frame of mind.
You would need that ‘right mind-frame‘ for the time you have to confront her later when you come back. Because ignoring her and not talking about the issues would not make them disappear.
Support and encourage her to seek help
Fortunately, short-temperedness is now recognized as a clinical/psychological problem. For that reason, it can be treated or managed.
In her quiet moments, try to convince your short-tempered girlfriend to get help from the experts.
Make her understand you would be there for her each step of the way. Anger-management classes would also benefit you too.
Though you kept it together up to this point, you know the stress you have gone through to suppress your anger. So, while she is learning to be a better person, you can also learn a thing or two from her classes.
So these are the ways you can handle your short-tempered girlfriend with positive results. If you have anything to add, please feel free to do so in the comments section below.
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Cheers.
