ANGER

         Anger, is commonly described as the poison or punishment a person takes or inflicts upon themselves, for something someone else has done.

Now, I would say this is only partly true, because we can also become angered by our own insufficiencies, or by the unfairness we feel the forces of creation will have us endure. Because of the way anger makes most people behave, there is, I would say, a desire for most of society to want to extinguish the anger in themselves and their fellow man, because who wants to deal with an angry person?

         More often than not, dealing with an angry person means other people will have their day ruined or at the very least, make others uncomfortable for a while. Because of this there is a general feeling in most people, that anger should be put away, that it should be suppressed, or educated out of man, because it is a destructive emotion and is a sign of an unevolved human being. Yes, I do believe that anger can lower our ability as people to be useful to ourselves and others, and I also believe that it is possible to evolve one’s mind to the point they no longer experience anger as the toxic entity it can be. However, to want to remove anger from the world, is to see anger and the world in a low resolution frame.

        I believe anger has played an evolutionary role for humanity and does so for other animals, and therefore has its function. Without it we would not have the catalyst we need for change, when an injustice has been done to us or to our fellow human beings. Without it, we would not have a means of identifying when we are not at our full potential, or, even if we could we wouldn’t have the driving force to create change. Without it many of us would lack a key and strong emotional motivator.

      With that being said, it is the balancing act of feeling the tide of anger and being able to choose your reaction, this is the pivotal point that eludes many a people. It is the trap of becoming a slave to one’s anger that has taken away so much from many great men and women. The tale that a show of anger makes one great is in my opinion a myth. Yes, it has its uses in the right situation, but as long as you are not choosing your response but are reacting instead, you are chained and subservient to it.

            Now, yes it is true that anger is a toxic thing, the chemical change that happens within you is not a healthy long term companion, it is meant to stimulate one towards change. Let us consider the different kinds of anger; two in particular. It is, I would say, more straightforward to address the anger one feels when another earthly identifiable thing or entity has done us an injustice, in that space our anger is not our fault. Even when we are angry at our own inadequacies we can choose to take our power back and change. But what does one do with the anger they feel, when they are angry with God? When God decides to beat us down while it seems like everyone else is enjoying the benefit of being exempt from his/her prosecution, what do we do with that kind of anger?

             Some of you will say, there is no such thing. Some of you may feel that blaming God or the Universe for one’s condition is a kind of laziness. To those people I ask, is every man born equal? The answer is undoubtedly no. God or the Universe have always endowed more to some than to others, it is such a deeply embedded nature of our reality that distribution does not happen equally; think Brownian motion. So I ask again, what does one do with the anger they feel towards God for an unfair distribution?

             Now, I can’t give you any kind of substantial advice on how to win in a battle against God, last I checked Lucifer is still at it and hasn’t succeeded yet. What I can do is give you some solid advice on how to win a battle against yourself. For starters, God doesn’t dream for you, at least I don’t think he/she does. We each choose our punishment when we envision what our lives should look like and don’t immediately get it. We cannot be angry at anyone else for that choice. That is a hard pill to swallow, especially when it seems like everyone else is having some kind of divine assistance in making their dreams come true and you’re not.

              With the work that I do, I am privileged to meet many different kinds of people with many different kinds of problems, and obviously one of those problems involves helping people reconcile a life of anger. This anger can be brought on by different reasons, one of which includes being raised in a manner that makes you the sort of person who can’t escape from themselves, in the way they think and feel about the world around them. Such a predicament is surely evidence of the unfairness of existence, and as unfortunate such a situation is; including that of anger towards God for not giving us what we desire, the one thing I am certain of, is that holding onto the anger is a losing game. Holding onto the person that is angry because we don’t know what else to be in that moment of unfairness can be a slippery slope. It is my opinion, in a world of seemingly unfair circumstances, the only way to win against the resentment, is to adopt a new philosophy about life and what matters.

By – Simon D.M Karanja