Everyone gets angry. From time to time, there will be things
in life that just get under our skin. Think about when you are sitting in
traffic – how often does this make you angry? Do you yell expletives in your
car at the offending driver? Do you toot your horn? Do you go so far as to
actually engage the person who has “done you wrong”? We all get angry, but we
cannot afford to let it be an emotion that comes easy to us. Anger doesn't make
us feel good, so why waste your time with it? Here are some reasons why getting
angry only harms you and your emotional well-being.
1.
You never make good decisions when you are angry
How often are you likely to come up with a great idea, solve
a problem, and make a good decision when you are angry? It doesn't happen. When
we are angry, our minds are solely focused on the issue that has made us angry,
which then often promotes irrational behaviour.
2.
Anger gets you into trouble
People with major anger management issues are often getting
in to trouble, as they are letting their anger control their decision making.
While you are calm, you probably won’t hit your jerk of a boss (even if you
think he deserves it). But for some people, when guided by anger they do end up
doing stupid things like assaulting people.
3.
Regret often stems from anger
Can you recall a time when you said or did something that
you now regret; which only happened because you were angry at the time? We
might say hurtful things when we are angry that we don’t really mean. The anger
within us is looking for an outlet by trying to hurt someone else; often
someone we care about. It may be something minor, or it may be a significant
event which ends a relationship.
The lessons to be learnt from anger are that it is a
damaging emotion to you and potentially to those around you, depending on how
you behave when you are angry. Anger should not be anybody’s controlling
emotion. If you feel yourself getting worked up, cool off before saying or
doing anything. Learn to control angry emotions – if you are easily worked up
you may need some professional help to cope with anger management. A good place
to start is reading this article over at Tiny Buddha. Don’t let little things
stir you up so easily. Acknowledge to yourself that you are annoyed by
something/someone, but try not to react in a negative way. The key message is
anger gets you nowhere, and only does harm, never any good. Anger is the most
useless emotion, so don’t waste your time being angry!
