For this exercise, I'd like you to experiment with observation of anger/ frustration OR fear/ anxiety.  Choose to focus on the emotional state that comes up more often for you.  Observe for a 24 hours the situations where you notice this emotion.  If it doesn't come up in 24 hours, then observe for a longer period --- you will need to have at least once occasion where you had the emotion and can examine your experience of it.  You can also use a relatively recent historical experience as long as you recall the details of it for doing the reflection.

When the emotion arises for you write down the following: the basics of the situation, the bodily sensations, the thoughts connected to the situation (about yourself and also about other people/ things in the situation).  You will need to have at least one specific example and you will need to provide a detailed examination of that experience. 

The second part of the assignment will involve examining the thoughts very carefully. 

The research shows that fear/ anxiety arises out of circumstances that are 1) unpleasant, 2)unexpected, 3) externally caused, 4) uncertain, and 5) uncontrollable.  If you are exploring your own fear, examine if this is an accurate assessment of your experience.  In what ways is it and in what ways is it not?  If you wanted to reduce your fear, how might you modify your assessment of controllability to modify the emotional experience?

The research shows that anger/ frustration arises out of circumstances that are felt to be 1) unpleasant, 2) unexpected, 3)unfair and interfere with goals, and 4) caused by someone else.  The circumstances are often seen as 5) changeable in some way.  If you are exploring your anger examine if this is an accurate assessment of your experience.  In what ways is it and in what ways is it not?  If you felt this circumstance was not one you can control or change how might this impact your emotional state?