Perpetual Anger Is A Death Sentence - Grasshopper

Who hasn’t been angry? We’ve all experienced the feeling we call anger but have we noticed the damage it causes when it’s our constant state?

I first heard the notion that anger sits on top of sadness from Jerry Stocking. How profound an observation that is. Below the visible anger is a sadness that hasn’t been noticed or fully felt.

 

Our sadness drives our anger and we don’t even recognize that we’re sad. That’s sad.

 

Have you ever noticed that angry people, as they age, have constricting health conditions? - Blood pressure, heart, circulation, etc. Just look at their face and see the constriction. It gets mirrored in their body.

 

A few years ago, I met an extremely successful mogul in his industry. He commented that he was having acid reflux and couldn’t seem to get a handle on it even though he had top medical care. He was being more careful about his food intake and taking his prescription but it didn’t seem to have an effect.

 

I asked if he noticed how angry he was. He reacted as though someone had told me his secret. Apparently someone he respected recently told him that anger was an issue for him - something he was unaware of before. He wanted to know how I knew. I simply said, “I can see it on your face.”

 

Many successful people use their unnoticed anger to build empires. After the building is done, the anger is still there and it has no outlet. That’s when it becomes problematic.

 

I suggested to him that he begin to notice his anger and not attribute it to an outside source as in “He/She/It makes me so angry.” I recommended that he just notice the feeling that he calls anger and sit with it. The strategy is to explore the feeling in your body. Find out where it shows up for you and just sit with that feeling. That doesn’t mean to talk to yourself about it; it means to feel the sensations.

 

This noticing and feeling of anger begins the process of transmutation from a state of anger to a state of calm. In the process, you are likely to get a glimpse of what you are sad about. That gives you an opportunity to address what has been sitting outside your awareness all this time and allows your anger to dissipate.

 

Like you, I have a number of Facebook friends and family members. It’s amazing to me the level of anger that’s displayed in their postings and re-postings. They have yet to recognize the deleterious effect that has on their well-being and health.

 

They may believe that’s getting their anger “out there.” I submit that it’s just perpetuating the anger that’s “in there.”

 

Anger will wear you down and take its toll. And if you are still justifying your anger, you are in deeper than you know, and your grimness will reap what you’ve sewn.

 

Start noticing your anger and explore those angry sensations in your body and you will have found a “governor” to commute your sentence.

 

All the best,

John