anger

i heard a former President speak tonight
and while it was at a political rally
(and i'm totally not going to get into that!)
he made some pretty interesting points

the one that stuck out to me the most was when he said

"let's take politics out of the equation for a moment
and just talk about life.
if you look back to times in your life where you have been angry
and you make a decision based out of that anger
when you come out of that moment and look back on the decision
9 times out of 10 you regret the decision you made."

hmmmm.
i don't care who you are, there's truth in that statement.

so my encouragement (and his) for you today is

own your anger
don't be afraid of it
but then...well, get over it
rise above it
make your decisions from a higher place

and everyone around you will benefit from that

Do not teach your children never to be angry; teach them how to be angry.
~Lyman Abbott

If you're angry at a loved one, hug that person. And mean it. You may not want to hug - which is all the more reason to do so. It's hard to stay angry when someone shows they love you, and that's precisely what happens when we hug each other.
~Walter Anderson

Not the fastest horse can catch a word spoken in anger.
~Chinese Proverb
If you kick a stone in anger, you'll hurt your own foot.
~Korean Proverb

this all seems rather simplistic, doesn't it?
and not at all easy in practice at times

but i'm constantly thinking
that my anger does nothing to change the situation (in most cases)
it only changes me
even if it's for fleeting moments
it changes me

sometimes that's not necessarily a bad thing
but dwelling in the midst of it?
THAT would be bad.

and so...rise above
own it, and get over it
simplistic...but so important