Hands up if you know a person who is regularly cranky and irritable.  As all hands rise there sounds a murmur from the imaginary group before me. Just one person they ask, how about dozens of them!

Now for a slightly harder question, are you one of those people? It’s easier to see the behaviours perpetrated upon you than to see those behaviours in yourself. The unfortunate facts however are that in our safe, comfortable, affluent, love filled community, regularly cranky and irritable people are as infectious as disease in a disaster zone.

As such there is a significant probability that you, dear reader, experience this reality in your life. Many souls who suffer this actuality within them selves seek to avoid the facts. Fundamental to the behaviour is blaming the people around you for the mood you experience within.

Naturally, in blaming other people, you fail to grasp the opportunity for change in your self. You may occasionally apologise for your behaviour, describing the reasons for the actions you have taken.

This is slightly better, but ultimately remains far from the finish line. The reasons can often sound like excuses and will ring hollow as the circle of blame followed by shame continues to roll down the hill.

The source of cranky irritability is exhaustion and anxiety. The source of these emotionally based experiences is the decisions about life that hide in the back of your mind.

Like a splinter of glass beneath your skin these decisions are constantly irritating yet terribly hard to see. A well-developed and regular meditation practise will eventually support the solution. Professional Counselling can provide a more timely movement forward.

Cranky irritability is like the pilot light in a gas hot water service. Its constant vigil is a waste of energy that can fire up the flame of your fury at the twist of a tap.

Bite the bullet and go for a sun light powered unit. There is an initial cost and a bit of maintenance to be done, but the warm water that washes you clean henceforth will be increasingly sustainable and cost effective.

Martin Hunter Jones is an honorary life member of the Australian Counselling Association. He has a Counselling and Hypnotherapy practice on the Northern Beaches. Phone 9973 4997.