Steven Joseph’s CrankaTsuris Method is here to help.
It is no secret that the pandemic has put a strain on most relationships in more ways than one. Steven Joseph writes A Grownup Guide to Effective Crankiness: The CrankaTsuris Method in a silly self-help style which will reassure you that your crankiness is not only natural, but also waiting to be healthily expressed.
The stay-at-home orders, being stuck in close quarters with immediate family members, and general stress brought about by the pandemic certainly increased crankiness globally. While some can see the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of going back to normal, others may feel in a darker place than ever before. Joseph writes this guide at the perfect time with just the right amount of humor to help readers see how being cranky is okay.
“Tsuris” is the Yiddish word for problems which have the power to change your life, often putting you in a constant state of suffering. Specifically, these types of problems are so big that you might have trouble keeping it bottled up inside. Joseph puts a spin on this word in creating “CrankaTsuris”, which describes the more common daily inconveniences which have the tendency to overwhelmingly add up over time. Throughout the pandemic, those minor inconveniences seemed to multiply to no end. To keep loved ones from getting hurt, he guides readers through his five-step approach to dealing with crankiness: “The CrankaTsuris Method”.
In a similarly silly style as his writing, Joseph first suggests renaming your crankiness as CrankaTsuris. That way, you both acknowledge your feelings as healthy and natural, and allow others to perceive it as such. The second step is to think of your CrankaTsuris as a virus, or as Joseph names it, “the Common CrankaTsuris”. He recognizes how easy it can be to get used to a state of crankiness, especially when it has already consumed everyone else around you. Hanging out with cranky friends, going to work with cranky coworkers, and then going home to cranky children will quickly take a toll on a person. By realizing that everyone might be just as cranky as the next person, perhaps we can put it all into a different light and have some fun with it.
The third step is to create a mutual CrankaTsuris support team, one that can laugh at each other’s crankiness instead of getting angry in retaliation. The final two steps are to practice your CrankaTsuris when you are not cranky and to have a quiet place ready if needed. While Joseph encourages utilizing CrankaTsuris as a natural and healthy form of expression, he understands that his method is not a one size fits all for every scenario.
When you follow these various strategies to effective crankiness, you agree to let out a CrankaTsuris before it snowballs into something more monstrous. We all get cranky at times and nobody is immune to the chaos that results, so why not have some fun with it. If you think the pandemic has left you more cranky than usual, this book is for you. Order your copy on Amazon.
