Anger was furious: He was enraged by everything he saw. When something got to him, he dwelled on it; he seethed over it. Anger would think about the things that didn’t go the way he wanted them to go, and he would rage about them. Anger believed that others should think the way he wanted them to think, do the things he wanted them to do, and be the way he wanted them to be. Anger was constantly let down that the world wasn’t what he expected and demanded that it should be: In short, Anger was disappointed a lot, and his disappointment led to his suffering.
Anger had a singular focus. What he thought about, he focused on, and he refused to be distracted by anything else. Letting go was not an option for Anger: What he grasped onto, he held tightly. Anger was rigid; he refused to accept thoughts that challenged his own. He was baffled that anyone could think differently than he.
Anger was scared to death of anything that challenged his way of thinking. He allowed himself to become swept away by violent fantasies of how he would handle anyone who dared speak differently than he wanted them to speak. He could not fathom others believing anything differently than what he believed: It infuriated him to think about other people having different beliefs.
Anger was miserable. Anger was tired. He was worn out by constantly fighting the world. He was exhausted at the “stupidity” of others. He was bewildered as to why the world didn’t just listen to him, because he really believed with all his heart that he was right about life. Anger suffered many physical complications due to the stress he put on his heart and organs from being constantly enraged. Anger died dejected and depressed.
And so went the life of Anger….
This story personifies anger. If anger were a person, I imagine this description of his life would be fairly accurate. When you read about the life of Anger, what things stand out to you? To become in control of your life emotionally, it’s important to recognize the types of things that perpetuate anger. Desire and attachment are two huge components in anger, and probably the most identifiable way anger is propagated is through our “shoulds.” The more we believe that others (or the world) should be different than it is, the more we are let down. The more attached we are to needing others (or the world) to be the way we want, the angrier we will be when things don’t turn out that way.
Perhaps the most eye-opening question that you can ask yourself from this story is this: In what ways do you find yourself similar to Anger? If you can answer that, then you have a key to opening the door to taking control of your anger. The next step, of course, is using that key.