The following thoughts are my opinions only and not stated as fact (although they may seem to be ;-^)
A Negatively Generated Emotional Response (ANGER) Ah what the hell, we all get angry...right? The answer to that question is usually...Yes. One should also ask the question...Why? Anger is a response mechanism that seems natural enough, until one tries to analyze it. When one asks the question "What is the reason for my anger?", and then actually takes some time to make sense of it, the result is usually that the reasoning is misguided. One will also soon realize that, not only is anger unenjoyable, it is also not a productive way to find resolution to the perceived problem. What Is Anger? Anger is definately an emotion, and for most can be described as negative. Although some people actually seem to enjoy anger, most would prefer to live without it in their lives. Anger, to me, is a sympton of a lack of understanding, acceptance and control. Some will say that they would not want to live their lives without feeling their natural emotions and that emotions shouldn't be controlled. I see. So I guess that anger management courses, marriage counsellors and psychiatrists are a waste of time and actually detrimental to living a natural life? Why Get Angry? Although there may be some events that justify anger, very few of them are based on sound reasoning. If we exclude crimes of abuse from our reasons for anger, we would soon determine that we get angry because we put the opinions of others over our opinions of ourselves. If we can look in the mirror and feel good about ourselves, why let the words or actions of another disturb this feeling? The first thing I say to myself when I feel anger creeping in is "Who got the better of you, and why?". This is so ingrained into my psyche now that these questions are raised automatically. In my opinion, life IS emotions. Its not what you do, its who you are. Therefore, attaining and emotionally stable existance is THE important goal in life. One cannot accomplish this without monitoring, analyzing and adjusting the way one reacts to a wide range of events that will transpire during ones lifetime. Righteous Indignation Righteous indignation is a form of anger that seems to be justified since it involves a higher being. Jesus displayed righteous indignation when "barbarians" were using a "holy temple" as a place to ply their trades. Lets think about this for a moment. Does it really matter where one makes their gold from selling frankincense and myrrh? First of all, if "god" created heaven and earth, then all places on earth are holy. Secondly, Jesus didn't design or build the temple, wasn't a member of it, and really had no business telling the merchants what to do there. NO place is holier than another, except in perception, which of course motives a large percentage of homo- sapians, who put their trust in something that they know very little about other than what they have been told. In other words, righteous indignation is anger with an ego problem, and definately not justified by those who claim to be represententive of the highest order. Can I Be Anger Free? Well...maybe not completely. But mostly from my experience. If a person learns to like, if not love, themselves, what or who has the capacity to create anger? If someone is angry at you, insults you, or in other ways attempts to disturb you, instead of getting angry, you can actually have compassion for them, since they are obviously suffering from a feeling of inferiority, saturated with their own misguided rage, or just being a jerk, all of which are their problem and shouldn't be your problem. You may even take some time to find out the source of their anger, and possibly help them resolve their issues. Nip Anger in the Bud If one has the desire to live free of anger, and takes strides to overcome their natural tendency to be negatively affected by the actions of others, they will soon discover that its a hard mountain to climb. Although it may seem impossible to address anger in the heat of the moment, as soon as the first tsunami has subsided at bit, one should immediately start the re-building process. Storing Negative Memories Before one can remove a negative incident from their immediate psyche and store it as a back burner memory for future referenece, one must fully analyze the event and come to terms with it. Simply blotting out the incident from ones memory can lead to future trauma and continued pain and stress. Many incidents in life are worthy of obscurity, but to do so without a heartfelt effort to come to grips with them is dangerous. Before committing a negative incident to a back-burner memory, one must ask, and find answers to, several questions. What happened? What caused it to happen? Should it have happened? Did I cause it to happen? How can I learn from this event? What can I do to prevent this from happening again? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
