Anger

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Anger is a poisonous fruit.

We all get angry on occasion. Every once in a while something happens in our lives that really sets us off. Whether it is something someone does or says to us, or appointments not being kept ~ whatever it is; most of us seem to have a button somewhere that, when pushed, gets us angry in a heartbeat...

That in itself is not the problem. Anger, like our other emotions, does have a function. It signals that there is something in our lives that we should have a closer look at. Something that we are not in balance with. Something that causes us stress in one way or another.
And yes, whatever it is that causes us to get angry, is definitely about us ourselves. Not about the other person or the situation that instigated our angry outburst...
That may well be the hardest thing to comprehend when we are looking at anger. That it is signaling something about ourselves rather than about something or someone ‘out there’.

For anger to function as a signal, about 30 seconds are enough time for it to come to our awareness ~ for us to realize there is something that needs looking at in ourselves and in our lives.

If our anger takes longer to dissolve, there is usually more to it than just that one situation.

It can be that the instigated anger reminds us of other occurrences of similar situations in which we failed to respond; or didn’t respond assertively ~ leaving us feeling powerless. And suddenly, years later something happens that takes us by surprise, causing us to not react assertively, which can result in a feeling of being powerless. And we get angry. The question is, what are we angry at? Are we angry at that other person? At the situation? Or are we angry at ourselves for the fact that we still are not assertive enough in live to stand our ground when something takes us by surprise?

This cycle is exactly what makes anger such a dangerous emotion.
When we direct our anger at ourselves, whether we are aware of that or not, it can easily start feeding itself. And pretty soon we have talked ourselves down to being a totally worthless person ~ which in itself can make us angry.
This is something that can go on inside of ourselves without the world around us noticing anything about it. We are nice to other people; kind and caring ~ except to ourselves...

Needless to say it is without a doubt our best option to not get into that cycle.
To immediately observe what it is inside ourselves or inside our lives that is being brought to the surface whenever we get angry; the thing our anger is signaling us about
And to take that all important next step: to do something about it.
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