Get Angry, But Don't Live There

One evening, I found myself irritable. No matter what issue I was addressing, I was bringing fire. Devoid of compassion and love, I was in a give zero effs mood. As I laid down to go to sleep, I realized the cantakerous feeling was still lingering. It was covering all of my thoughts. I didn't like it.

The source of my angst was unknown, and for all intents and purposes, it could have just been the "h" word (hormones). Nonetheless, I decided to address them the way I would with a friend. I placed both hands on my heart and asked silently, "Where do you feel wronged?". I just kept asking repeatedly:

"Where do you feel wronged?"

I felt myself becoming disarmed. For whatever came up, I imagined God apologizing repititiously for the offense. Over and over again. Slowly but surely, I didn't feel angry anymore. I felt heard, seen, and loved.

In my late twenties, I came across the quote, "Hurt people, hurt people"(Unknown). It was quite mind-blowing - the thought that we can allow our hurts to pour onto other people if we don't learn to process them ourselves. Of course, most of these lessons came from the teachers teaching me yoga.

It was today, when I recounted the epiphany I had last night to a friend, that she said, "Yes, it's okay to feel anger, but you don't want to live there." And that is the God's honest truth. It is expected all neurotypical humans will experience the entire spectrum of natural emotions; but emotional maturity is acknowledging, processing, and releasing them. I want to bring my best energy to the world, and in order to do that, I have to take time to process the yucky emotions. If I don't, they will paint other moments black that deserve better.

I figured if I felt this way, maybe someone else does and could use a reminder to pause and let less than desirable emotions come and go, without pitching a tent and residing there. Enjoy your week!

“But feelings can't be ignored, no matter how unjust or ungrateful they seem.”

― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl