PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR ANGER

Anger is a strong feeling of annoyance usually related to antagonism towards something or someone. It involves agitation, malice or retribution and is a normal human emotion although when out of control can become extremely negative, leading to serious problems at work and in personal relationships. Anger can also lead to some serious health problems like increased blood pressure, cardiac problems and could even harm one’s physical and mental health.

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Anger could arise for different reasons depending on individual temperaments and psychologists have come up with several ways of controlling anger with numerous materials made available on how anger can be channeled and expressed in an appropriate manner. Since too much of it could be dangerous, we are advised to slow down and if possible stop and ponder before carefully responding when angry. One could also refrain from escalating the situation into the “danger zone” by choosing if to express anger or not. Overwhelmed by the instinct to suppress it obviously paints anger as an extremely negative emotion and because anger is uncomfortable, it is sometimes difficult to examine it and discover what it might be trying to expose.

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The other side of anger could be a window to reveal something you are deeply passionate about? Anger is way too important to be ignored or dismissed and when viewed constructively could signal that something matters. Taking a step back and considering this properly may give a clue to a career calling or an opportunity to see what you are able to change. When you look critically at people who brought about a transformation or invented something, it was usually because they were angry with status quo and deeply desired to see a change in their world.

Valerie Hunter- Gordon wasn’t any different. In 1947 while pregnant with her third child, this wife of an army officer got fed up of washing traditional cloth nappies. Having done so for her first two children, she dreaded the strenuous labor involved in the process of washing, drying and ironing cloth nappies even though that was what was available at that time. In addition, the inconvenience from water and electricity consumption associated with the task irritated her and the uncomfortable feeling of anger and discontent drove her to fabricate disposable nappies from nylon parachutes, tissue wadding and cotton wool. Her innovation which was well received and patronized by fellow army wives eventually translated into the modern day disposable diapers. Paying attention to her anger obviously delivered mothers from the grueling task of washing cloth nappies after each soil.

Another angry person was Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, an African American civil right’s activist and seamstress who was uncomfortable with the segregation of black people in Alabama. Growing up, she experienced deep rooted racism and was conscious of the different opportunities faced by white and black children. By refusing to give up her seat for a white man on a bus, she triggered the Montgomery bus boycott which became one of the most successful mass movements against racial segregation and earned her an iconic status in American culture.

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We are sometimes overwhelmed by events that seem not to going well yet we grumble and look away without necessarily thinking about why this happens. Ask yourself this question, “What really gets me very angry?” Perhaps that uncomfortable emotion rumbling in you is an indication or a pointer to something you can change