Letters/Editor

ANGRY: Why?

by Norman Halls, contributor

We all know or have seen someone angry. We stop and think, “what is his/her problem?” It could be a simple thing like trying to open a sealed bag. Psychology Today says; “You know the feeling. It’s that rage you get when someone cuts you off on the highway; you just want to floor it and flip the bird. Anger is a corrosive emotion that can run off with your mental and physical health. So do you hold it in? Or do you let it all out? Anger doesn’t dissipate just because you unleash it. Some insight into why we have it and how it works can help you better manage this raw emotion.” When you see an angry person it’s best to walk away and say nothing. Many times if you speak things could get worst.

You can’t laugh if you are angry.  Laughter can soothe tensions and relieve your stress. Note: I wouldn’t suggest that you start laughing at someone if they are angry, it may have repercussions. Anger has many health risks; the anxiety greatly increases the risk of a heart attack. Anger also increases anxiety, high blood pressure and headaches. Recently, we saw what happens when someone has alcohol, it can cause angry aggression. In Kansas a man shot 2 men in a bar. The shooter had asked the 2 men he shot, if they were illegally in the country. It’s to believe to be a hate/anger situation. It seems that the shooter was angry at 2 Indian men being in his country. The men were engineers at Garmin.  Anger’s lingering effects from the recent political campaign or the executive orders, may have caused the shooter to move in a coarser and angrier direction. We talk about anger being rooted in a lack of control.

Anger is common emotions that can help individuals relieve stress, motivate them to solve problems, and provide a way, through healthy expression, for people to discuss their negative feelings – According to: GoodTherapy.org.  They continue saying; “But anger has risks, perhaps more than any other emotion, as it can alienate people from others and lead individuals to do things they later regret.”  Anger may also arise, not due to a present situation, but because the present situation is a problematic involuntary experience. The Mayo Clinic has 10 management tips to tame your temper including: 1. Think before you speak;  2. Once you’re calm, express your anger;  3. Get some exercise;  4. Take a timeout; and 5. Indentify possible solutions.

The town halls demonstrations are intersecting nationwide anti-Trump protests that began on Inauguration Day, picked up momentum with the Women’s March, and have continued through the Not My President’s Day protests earlier this week. Throughout the entire furor, the White House has remained skeptical of the activists who are filling town halls and city blocks in opposition to Trump’s agenda. Reported by Leandra Bernstein Sinclair Broadcast Group she went on to say, Asked whether President Trump believes there is legitimate, underlying anger fueling the demonstrations, Sean Spicer replied, there is “a hybrid” of people, some who are truly upset, but also “a bit of professional protester manufactured base in there.”

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg columnist who wrote “Why Republicans Can’t Ignore Angry Voters”.  He suggests It’s dangerous even if Republicans realize they are dealing with a popular movement denouncing Trump and the plans of Republicans in Congress and are just pretending that it’s all phony. This is because Republican voters listen to their elected officials, and tend to believe them. If they believe that everything Trump and their congress people do is overwhelmingly popular, then they’ll have no patience for delays or retreats on any of the items on the agenda.

“I’m of course not only talking about Trump here. I’m thinking about every fill-in-the-blank narcissistic leader in mainstream media or in our personal lives that has ever drawn us in with charisma and big promises and then let us down when we realize he wasn’t who he said he was. Until we’ve learned this the hard way (and sometimes even after) it’s easy to be fooled by these big personalities. It happens to even the most well-intentioned of us. In fact, there’s a considerable amount of evidence showing you’re more likely to be duped by a narcissistic leader if you are kind, compassionate, empathetic, selfless and just generally well-meaning person”. Jonathan Martin and Patrick Healy, New York Times

The American Psychological Association reports: We all know what anger is, and we’ve all felt it: whether as a fleeting annoyance or as full-fledged rage. Anger is a completely normal, usually healthy, human emotion. But when it gets out of control and turns destructive, it can lead to problems—problems at work, in your personal relationships, and in the overall quality of your life. And it can make you feel as though you’re at the mercy of an unpredictable and powerful emotion.

Be careful in what you do when you speak or write  – chances are you are going to meet with aggressive anger. Listen to what they are saying. You might want to separate your feelings. I have this saying: “Think about what you are thinking before you think you should say what you are thinking.”

“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.”

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