Mental Health Awareness Month Day 23.
Anger is not bad or wrong. It is what we do with our anger that can be bad or wrong.
I have been very angry the past couple of days. Tonight I wrote 1100 plus words about why I am angry. (And I’m sure that was just the tip of the iceberg.) Anger makes me want to do something. The other night I went on a drive and was speeding because of it. It has been suggested to me more than once that maybe I need to get a punching bag to release my anger.
As a child, anger looked like screaming, yelling, swearing, name calling, throwing things, physical violence to others, slamming doors, storming off, breaking things, threats. Growing up watching and hearing that made me keep all my anger inside. I was usually silent when I was angry. I might have had anger written all over my face, but I rarely lashed out because of it.
On Thursday, I was listening to a new podcast called The Dissenters, and Glennon Doyle (author of Untamed) was the guest “dissenter”. Glennon said that women have approached her and said, “I’m struggling with my anger.” She wondered why we say that. Then she added, “Are you struggling with your joy?”
The point is most of us think that there is something wrong with us if we are angry. Like we believe anger isn’t an emotion we should (there’s that awful word) feel. Later in that podcast, Glennon talks about learning that there isn’t something wrong with us, but there is something wrong.
We are allowed to be angry. There isn’t anything wrong with feeling anger. If in our anger, we are doing damage to things and/or hurting others, that is when it becomes wrong. When we feel angry, we can learn to figure out what is wrong and then do something about it without it ever becoming bad.
Tonight I was angry. I was angry that I had to wear a mask. But I willingly wore the mask. I wasn’t being forced to be in a place where I had to wear a mask. I was choosing to be there, and that was a requirement. Something was wrong. Something is wrong… We are dealing with a worldwide pandemic, and I personally am over it. So I’m not happy about wearing a mask. And that is okay. I don’t have to like it. I just have to be able to express and deal with my anger in an appropriate way. That has always been and will continue to be my goal. Because I have been a firsthand witness to anger when it isn’t controlled or dealt with in constructive ways. And that is when anger becomes problematic.
Being angry is not wrong. Feeling anger, or any other emotion, is to be alive and be human as Glennon would say. #provo #angry #anger #wearamask #ordontgothere #itsoktobeangry #thedissenters #glennondoyle #somethingwrong #notsomethingwrongwithus #mentalillness #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthawarenessmonth #mentalhealthinthetimeofcorona #coronavirus #covid19 #corona2020 #letsbereal #31in31at31 #agamutofgrey #lifeisbeautiful #may2020 5.23.20
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