Anger is sacred. It should be reserved for only when absolutely necessary. However I have a problem when it comes to anger. It comes easy and often. I seem to have an infinite supply. Unleashing self-righteous anger is an American pastime. It makes us feel superior. It makes us feel like we’ve gone to battle and emerged victorious. But it’s unhealthy, for us and those around us. We are teaching our children to be angry whether we mean to or not.
Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty to be angry about. Liars rule the world. Greed is rewarded. People are dying needlessly. The keyboard on my phone is too small! Give me a minute here.
So in the previous paragraph, the first three things are worth getting angry about and the last is not. But once you get started it’s hard to stop. Also, unless there’s positive action you can take, like voting or activism, just being angry won’t help.
I’m beginning to realize that while some people meditate to relax and some people meditate to connect to a higher power, that connecting to a higher power is enabled by relaxing. Being tense constricts muscles and nerves and restricts the flow of air, blood and energy.
Meditation is really just practice. It’s training. The goal is to be connected to our higher power all the time. That’s what enlightenment is. If we only try to connect during meditation then it’s like rehearsing a dance you’ll never perform.
You can’t really meditate while you’re driving but you can remain relaxed. Avoid getting angry. We can employ what we learned from meditation in real life.
In my case, it’s hard to decide not to become angry. By the time I realize what’s going on, I’m already angry. So I have to stop and take a step back.
There is a plethora of writing on anger management and this is not that. Count to ten, cut down on coffee, stay off Twitter. Eat healthy, exercise. Anger management is life management. You’ll live longer.
For me though, it’s about perspective. Many of the suggestions don’t address the root of the problem, they merely suggest avoiding things that make us angry. But is it worth getting angry over all these things? Of course not. We all already know that. The blood pressure, the aggravation, the Twitter bans. But knowing it’s not worth it doesn’t help, does it? How about knowing what it is worth. Your anger is sacred. Guard it. Don’t wallow in it. Don’t give it away to fools.
Of course I’m not suggesting you keep it bottled up. That’s like taking poison and expecting someone else to get sick.
