Angry--To Be or Not To Be

Pros and Cons of Anger

The world is an angry place—road rage, harming young girls who simply want an education, murdering people, kids, out of a skewed sense of vengeance or self-righteousness—all an unhealthy means of expressing anger, easy to get sucked into and become part of the problem. What’s the solution?

Love your neighbor, turn the other cheek—is all anger destructive? There are many recorded instances of venerated religious leaders showing frustration and anger from time to time. Sometimes it can be useful, even necessary. It’s a normal human response and of itself neither bad nor good. The actions we take to deal with it determine whether anger becomes negative as in hatred and violence or a positive thing—a catalyst for necessary change, doing the morally right thing.

A pain to think about, granted, but in being responsible, we have to ask who’s deciding what the right thing or justice is? It’s a slippery slope to vengeance, a fine line between righteous anger and a holier-than-thou judgment. Are those laying down guidelines in a position to cast stones? Is it truly unbiased from mob rule, prejudice, or fanaticism?

Healthy Responses

Sometimes anger can be a byproduct of frustration. Even the most positive and hopeful people lose heart and suffer from a real emotion called compassion fatigue—so many making the same mistakes in a seemingly non-ending cycle. We need close friends who know our true hearts and will patiently listen to us vent without judging, scolding, or trying to teach us what we should be feeling or thinking—not that we don’t want to share philosophies and debate in a civil, respectful manner, but later, after the venting. You’ll do the same for them.

No one goes through this life emotionally unscathed. Letting sadness, hurt, anger, and frustration fester can turn inward into depression or self-loathing or outward in violence, bullying, ridicule, nastiness. By accident or more likely divine guidance, I found the coping mechanism that works best for me.

Wednesday, I’ll share my aha moment with anger. I'd really like to hear others' stories of their experiences and how they've dealt. Comments on the blog are anonymous and easier to keep track of than Facebook's timeline.