Discovery while dealing with frustrations

Last night I was reading a book and it talked about taking things personally. Today I realized while working that I personalize the things that frustrate me and by choosing to not take it personally I was able to work through and deal with many things that would normally frustrate me to the point of rage or being out of control. I was amazed at how much easier the stress is to deal with when I do not take things personally.

I have know it is easy to deal with stressful situations and frustrating occurrences when I do not take it personally but it is another thing to practice it while in a stressful situation and see results. I have always thought I was good at not taking things personally but I know I am not great at that and do need to learn to lighten up a bit. It is easy for me to be overly serious or intense. I need to get back to laughing at myself and not taking myself so seriously. Why is it with age & hard work that I loose those wonderful qualities?