“Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm to the end.” -Proverbs 29:11
Anger. It’s a problem for so many people. Anger has ruined lives, ended lives, and destroyed lives. Something as simple as waiting a few seconds before acting or responding could have saved so many relationships, lives, and so much more. Anger, when used improperly is a destructive fire that can destroy what one has worked so hard for.
And more and more people are giving in to their anger. People are giving in to all their baser natures but we see anger dominating more and more. Whether it’s political discourse, road rage, customer service, or just life in general. As people become weaker, fatter, and dumber they also become more filled with rage, anger, and hatred. And no one is an exception to this.
We all have to be vigilant when it comes to anger otherwise it can consume and destroy us. Yet at the same time we cannot become without emotion as that’s also unhealthy. We need to have proper emotional responses to things yet at the same time not be controlled by those emotions.
Something that is not very easy. So with that being said, how can we go about controlling our anger? Finding proper routes for the expression or relieving of it as well as how to prevent the unhealthy development of it in the first place. And all so we can live happier, healthier, and more productive lives.
Way To Have Less Anger #1 – Meditation
Mindfulness mediation has a great variety of uses and benefits. It works on the brain to calm it, make it more focused, and make you more in control. And it’s a great way to get rid of unwanted, unneeded, and unproductive anger as well as make you more resistant to flying off the lid at the littlest of things. We’re all subjected to minor annoyances each and every day.
Stupidity, incompetence, insensitivity, and a whole hell of a lot more. Meditation helps to make you bullet proof to these this and to be able to be in control of the situation no matter how tense or tight that it gets. Meditation helps you to not be controlled by your emotions but instead be the one in control. Meditation will not make you numb to your emotions like unhealthy things like booze, tobacco, drugs, and other addictions but rather will help you stay in the pilot seat through the ups and down that life will inevitably throw at you.
Way To Have Less Anger #2 – Ban The News
You don’t learn anything on the news. The news is nothing but propaganda and negativity. If you want to be informed simply look at the world around you, trust me if something big happens you’ll know it. Turn off the news, not just cable news networks which are the worst of the worst but also news from political sites and YouTube channels. These things are all about making you angry and stirring up frustration.
They make you want to complain about things and get out of sorts about them. But they’re never about actually doing anything about anything. Drop the news from your life. You want be “uninformed” you’ll be “unbrainwashed”. Learn to see the life and world around you. It’ll make you far less negative and angry then being plugged into angry news channels each and every day. Don’t get addicted to the outrage.
Way To Have Less Anger #3 – Don’t Whine Or Complain
Really as a man you shouldn’t be whining or complaining anyways. That behavior should be trained out of you are the age of around four or five. Yet we see “adults” each and every day who do little other than whine and complain about things. There are essentially two healthy options you have when presented with an annoyance, frustration, or problem. They are number one, figure out how to solve the problem and work towards the solving of it.
Then there is understanding you can’t do anything about it and accepting it then taking the proper action that that dictates. For example, maybe you realize a relationship isn’t working out and that it isn’t going to change. Instead of whining about it you take the proper actions which would be to dissolve the relationship. Like the old prayer goes “Give me the courage to change the things I can, the serenity to accept the things I can’t, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Don’t whine and don’t complain.
Way To Have Less Anger #4 – Exercise The Anger Out
Man was made to have exercise and movement in his life. Without time spent exercising we start to go wrong in various ways. We get fat, we get overloaded, and we get more stressed out then we’d be otherwise. We need exercise in our lives. That could be lifting weights, hiking, participating in a sport, or whatever else. You have to find what works for you and what you can do on a consistent basis. All have their benefits.
MMA is what does it for me though hiking is also a great joy for me. Even taking a walk in nature everyday is going to have big benefits for you. The gym just never got me what MMA and hiking does but again everyone’s different and you have to find what works for you. If you to the gym and it’s not working then find something else as modern gyms can be just as annoying as anything else.
Regardless of what you do, exercise.
Way To Have Less Anger #5 – Practice Gratitude
I know a lot of people are going to turn up their nose at this but don’t. There’s a lot to be said for practicing gratitude. But we should talk about what this means exactly because there’s a lot of false information in regards to this. Gratitude doesn’t mean to ignore problems or pretend that things are okay when they’re not. That’s just foolishness. What gratitude is, is realizing that there are good things in your life to be grateful for.
Political parties, advertising, ideological sites, they are all geared to make you feel lack and that your life isn’t okay. What you need to do is counter this messages with understanding that there are good things in your life. Look at your life, write down ten things that you are thankful for. Yeah, I know it sound cheesy. Yeah, I know it sounds like something you’d do in kindergarten but do it anyways.
And keep doing it. Every day write out three things you’re grateful for. Try to make it different things each and every day. What you’ll soon realize is that while there are plenty of problems out there to be solved that there’s plenty of good in your life as well.
Keep A Cool Head
We’ll cover the rest of the methods in the next installment as this is starting to run a little long. Remember keeping a cool head is a big part of being a man. Keep a cool head, learn to have emotions but not be controlled by them. And take a step back from the mad and maddening crowd. Learn to live with purpose and control. Which leads to a healthier, happier, and more productive life.
If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it.
-Charles Sledge
