Who isn’t familiar with anger, the heat wave of emotion that rises when you cannot accept a situation? Maybe you have been wronged or your circumstances are not according to your interest or expectations. Maybe you feel that you or your loved ones are being threatened. Anger expressed is actually helplessness in disguise. When in the grip of anger, people often lose their centeredness and speak and act impulsively, regretting their maddening actions later on. People have told me stories of how they left their home and families in a fit of anger. Others have hurt their loved ones physically, some have broken expensive things and others have quit their jobs or committed acts of violence they will regret later.
Bottling up anger is not a healthy practice, because it causes stress and unhappiness. Anger can play havoc both in your personal and professional life. Unbridled anger makes you lose sensory control and you end up saying or doing things that are difficult to repair. Anger that is not expressed becomes acid in the body (pitta) that imbalances your Chakras and destroys your system from within. Anger not only has a negative effect on a person’s health and wellbeing but it also mars your quality of life.
Having said this, know that anger is a useful emotion because it gives you the strength to change things that can’t be changed in normal circumstances. It is a powerful energy that needs to be respected and deployed to bring about transformation in your external world. If you channel it the wrong way by hurting, abusing and destroying relationships, things or situations, it will ultimately lead to guilt and self-loathing, which will weaken you.
Anger informs you that something is wrong somewhere and that things have to be changed. It is best to express anger in a healthy way, so remember to be assertive but not aggressive. Also, never let anger become a repetitive phenomenon or a way of life. Being angry is considered a perfectly normal human attribute, but you must learn to control and channelize this energy.
Simple steps to manage anger
Know that anger welling up within is a sign that something in the outside world is not OK.
Notice it and understand that come what may, the Universe will unfold itself the way it should. Accept it for what it is.
Don’t allow mistrust and judgement to cloud your mind at this time. It is difficult to do this initially but with practice you can get there.
Know that you have the power to change what can be changed and accept with surrender what is not in your hands.
See the situation again, with compassion, and solutions will start trickling into your mind
Managing anger requires you to change your perception about people and situations. No one is there to harm you or hurt you in any way. People see life in different ways and you need to learn to honour their perception.
Meditation is one of the best tools to deal with anger issues as it helps develop mind awareness and self-control.
