Anger Is Necessary
By A.J. Mahari (aka Soul)
Anger, in our society today, is a much maligned emotion. Anger is, at the very least, too often thought of as or defined as not okay and/or destructive among a host of other negative descriptors. Anger is seen as a negative unwanted emotion.
It is viewed as a destroyer of love and/or as the antithesis of love. This results in anger being the most repressed emotion.
It is not being angry or feeling angry or having anger that is unhealthy. It is choosing to repress or inappropriately express or display your anger that is at the root of our culture’s issues with anger.
Anger is a healthy human emotion to feel. It is what we do with it once we feel it that matters most.
Anger is necessary if we are feeling beings. If we are able to feel anything, from time to time, anger will invariably be a part of what we feel. Anger has tremendous value. It alerts us to potential danger. It moves us into action to take care of ourselves and/or protect ourselves.
It is necessary to feel anger in order to be healthy and well-balanced.
It is not feeling angry that is negative it is the repression of anger until it implodes or explodes without rational guidance that can be destructive. It is denying the appropriate and healthy expression of our anger that can also be destructive.
When you are angry you are likely in touch with what you need in any given situation. When you are angry you likely know that something isn’t okay.
Embrace how angry you may feel at any given time.
Anger indicates that we care enough to feel and to give voice to our feelings, especially feelings of displeasure. It also clears the air so that free exchange can take place. Anger is necessary.
The right to feel and to express our anger in healthy ways is necessary if we are going to be able to feel and express compassion for ourselves and each other.
Feeling your anger and learning to appropriately express it without guilt or shame is of paramount importance to being able to be true to yourself and true with others.