Generally I am not a angry person and when I do get angry its short lived. However every once in a while it sneeks up on me and surprises me. We are all human, and anger is an emotion every human feels at one time of another. It disturbs our well being. One of my favorite quotes is.

"To forgive is like freeing a prisoner and finding out the prisoner was you"

I don't know who said it originally but it was one of my grandmother and my Fathers favorite quotes as well. Especially when one of us kids were fighting or angry about something. Of course when I was younger I would just roll my eyes and say...... whatever and never really think about it much but as I traveled through my life, experiencing a whole range of emotions I realized just how true this statement is. Anger hurts no one but yourself.

It's inevitable that in our lives we will feel angry at times. People will hurt us intentionally and unintentionally and we will do the same. It's part of the human condition. We cannot avoid it but we can change how we think about it. How we react to it now.

Anger like any other emotion is a choice. Its not something someone makes you feel. It's a reaction to being hurt or wronged in some way. Lashing out in anger never helps heal that hurt. Reacting to that hurt with anger just creates more anger. It attracts anger to you. Keeps you imprisoned in thoughts of negativity. It prevents you from being happy and affects your well being.

Ways to move beyond anger.....

First acknowledge its presence. Although yourself to feel it without trying to rid yourself of the feeling or expressing it.

Think about what has triggered the anger. Anger is always caused by hurt. Who or what has hurt you.

Accept that hurt no matter what caused it, what has been done is done and you cant change it. Everything that occurs in the universe cannot be as we want it to be. It is what it is.

Forgive the hurt. See it for what it is and let it go. Choose not to react to it. Return to peace.

I know it's not always easy to do and there are times when as humans we slip up and react in anger. Even knowing this, I sometimes slip up as well and have to remind myself who I would be hurting with my anger. My post here is not to point fingers or cast blame but to take a look at anger and what it does to our well being and happiness. It's part of the journey of self improvement which should always be something that is growing and evolving in us.

If you have thoughts on anger or ways to move beyond anger please share them.

Be well
Tisha