Anger
Have you seen a child cry?
It is pain personified.
If that does not hurt you? What does…
In the sweltering heat of summer the child is crying. Is he hungry? No. Thirsty? No. But he is bawling. Bawling like there is no tomorrow. And with every second the bawling increases in volume. In pain. You see him turn red. His watery eyes are speaking volumes. But oh who is listening? It is too painful. IT. NEEDS. TO. STOP.
Haven’t you been through this?
Child crying in a mall? A child crying in an airplane? In a heated, crowded bus. In the train.
I am not sure if this is a common belief. But the place where I come from ANGER. IS. BAD. Yes.
Bad people harbor anger.
It is bad to feel angry.
It is bad to carry it inside.
If you are angry you are BAD.
Yes, I know you want to throw eggs at me right now. I want to throw eggs at you too. That’s what anger does to people.
If ever there was a day where the rules of civilization could be waived for a bit…. People would be spending most of their time throwing eggs at each other. Ugh…. stupid rules of civilization.
Well, clearly…. I am angry right now. You read it.
And OH MY GOD… I did what was frowned upon……. I SAID IT OUT LOUD. IN FRONT OF PEOPLE. I HAVE DONE THE UNSPEAKABLE. GOD SAVE ME NOW….. GASP…
But if Anger is “bad” how come it is one of the many legitimate emotions that we carry within. Is Sadness bad too? And Disgust? Is that bad too? And Grief? What about Grief?
What about Shame? Guilt? Fear?
Or should we ignore these and only emphasize on the good, worldly emotions…. Joy, Happiness, Euphoria. These have a more worldwide acceptance anyway right?
But then, We are not meant to be bad people. Right?
Definitely not when we are that child who is angry about the sweltering heat.
Definitely not when we are that child who is angry sitting in an airplane fighting cabin pressure.
Definitely not when we are that child who is angry for being dragged along in a crowded mall.
Definitely not when we are that child who is angry sitting in an over-crowded train breathing other peoples’ sweat.
And if Anger is bad but we are not bad people, why do we feel ANGRY?
I will not spend the rest of my time thinking about this question. We all know by now that we DO have a gazillion reasons to FEEL ANGRY. Including that little red hot child sitting in a red hot bus.
All legitimate reasons that lead to a very legitimate emotion. ANGER.
I am not going to justify this emotion. Nor do I want any of you mere ANGRY mortals to justify yours.
Emotions need not be justified. They need to be FELT. Given a CHANCE. Explored.
So Today I am ANGRY.
I am going to sit and bathe in it. Burn in it. Feed it. Release it. Channel it. Burn in it some more. Then feed it some more. Then release it again. And go on and on.
In my ANGRY state.
I am going to get up and go to Work.
I am going to FEEL it some more.
I am going to Walk it off some more.
I am going to Channel it in my work.
I am going to Write about it.
I am going to Bring it up in difficult conversations. With my team-mates. With my boss. With people around me who remind me everyday that I EXIST.
I am going to fuel it some more and spread it like contagion that generates ENERGY.
I am going to spread this ENERGY and celebrate my ANGER with the World like LAUGHTER and CRY..
Then I am going to release it into the Universe.
Because. When you are ANGRY. It is not about the WORLD. It is only about YOU..
Emotions need not be justified. Emotions need to be FELT….
They speak volumes…
Just like Love.
Happy Mental health day. Don’t calm your emotions. Feel them. Burn in them. Release them.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
