How to Deal with Anger - Tools for Controlling Rage
Image by marielito via Flickr
Each day we are challenged by various situations such as the copy machine jamming, getting stuck behind a slow driver or a call from your kid’s teacher. When you have a rough encounter or crisis you can often feel at your worst. It is easy then to fall into old reactions.
We have knee-jerk reactions when we are angry and on edge. This makes it easy for us to fall into an unconscious reaction with others. We end up saying what we regret later and feeling mad at ourselves for being out of control.
When driving, uncontrolled anger can be deadly. It can result in both obnoxious and unsafe behavior including cutting off a person, excessive honking and obscene gestures. Other drivers then react to this and they can end up being also impatient, angry and wreckless.
In the midst of driving if you see someone that is hitting the steering wheel, furiously honking or giving someone the finger don’t feed their rage but ignore them. You don’t want to antagonize someone more especially because their poor driving can impact lives. Realize that they are stuck in issues they don’t have insight into and have compassion instead.
Driving can be scary if someone is aggressive and being irrational.Also make your safety the priority. When someone is in a bad attitude, don’t look them right in the eyes. They will feel challenged or criticized. It is good to not try to teach someone a lesson but instead just stay peaceful inside.
The science of anger management enables someone to learn ways to stay calm in the midst of rough situations. Breathing, relaxation and visualization all are means to not be a yo-yo going up and down. There are ways to master your mind and emotions so you don’t just act like a leaf in the wind.
By learning anger control tools you not only master the current situation but many other ones. If you can be calm on a long grocery store line then you also will deal better with tension at work or a problem with a credit card etc. You will practice various exercises that you can apply and they’ll be noticed by your friends as you change.
Self-mastery is a great accomplishment and one you’ll be so proud of. You won’t feel like you are just living out your subconscious because you have a moment of choice where you can act intelligently with clarity. This takes some work but it is so worth it.
