Sunday 10 October 2010

Anger is Best Kept in Its Place.

Do you ever have those days when things just go wrong and you begin to feel inner anger building up inside you. I get those days now and again and I always feel the same way when they happen. I feel exasperated and frustrated, fortunately seldom at the person who made me feel that way in the first instant but at myself, because it is a sign that the old me has bubbled back to the surface. Fortunately from years of living with the old me I have managed to work out a number of ways to re-inter the old me where he belongs.

Yesterday was one of those days, a couple of things happened in fast succession and there I was looking at the old me. Today I can laugh at it, thank goodness.

I did apologise that some of you may have heard yesterday’s tales before and it seems I was right to. Taking that into account can I be foolhardy and share another with you today about the thought of anger. (On which as I have said I am an expert.)

There was a farmer who grew watermelons. He was doing pretty well, but he was disturbed by some local kids who would sneak into his watermelon patch at night and eat his watermelons. After some careful thought, he came up with a clever idea that he thought would scare the kids away for sure. He made up a sign and posted it in the field.



The next day, the kids show up and they saw the sign which read: "Warning! One of the watermelons in this field has been injected with cyanide."



The kids run off, made up their own sign and posted it next to the farmer’s sign. When the farmer returned, he surveyed the field. He noticed that no watermelons are missing, but the sign next to his read:



"Now there are two!!!"

Sometimes it is better to think than it is to react.

I cannot remember who it was that said it but whomever it was made a wise saying when they said, "People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing."

It is also very true that if you allow a person to make you angry then all you have done is handed control to that person.

it was my father, who one day when I was so full of anger he could see it, took me aside and told me, "If you let others dictate how you feel, you are going to be miserable."

In the end, after a very bad start I had a marvellous day with my family. I ran, we discussed and shared events and then I walked in the woods as the daylight drew to a close. The sun had set on what could so easily have been a different kind of day.

So for all those in the past who took the time to tell me about anger I say thank you.

This Blog is linked to my other.  Sunflowers

10 comments:

  1. Anger is a normal human emotion, but when it gets out of control, it is destructive! With age some learn to laugh at themselves and not allow anger control them, but unfortunately some never learn and it is pathetic!

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  2. You are just so right Padmaja I suspect you are one who has long ago learned the art of control.

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  3. Good reminder for all of us. You can appreciate your lapse into less-than-perfect behavior, because it helped you to see more clearly how far you've come from that old pattern of thinking.
    I know I've said it before, but I learned so much about myself and the way I see my world from the book, "Living WabiSabi", by Taro Gold. From there, I started reading Thich Nhat Hanh, and some other wabisabi authors. And of course, YOU help me every day, with your inspirational stories!

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  4. Wonderful comments on anger. Thank you.

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  5. Ralph,
    je peux être en colère, mais malheureusement je ne parviens pas à la faire exploser! Malheureusement car elle me ronge, me fait souffrir et pourrit mon existence... Finalement elle a toujours raison sur moi, car elle se transforme en un autre sentiment : la culpabilité. Je suis forcément à chaque fois la coupable, puisque ma colère est devenue monologue!
    Je suis un peu fruitcake !

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  6. Good Morning Ralph, today will be a great day!
    I can't imagine you angry! Anger is always about loss of control, not getting things your way, and it always destroys the vessel that contains it. I believe, that is the "Way of Tao" or it should be!

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  7. Anger is not really who I am. I get frustrated with myself frequently; but seldom angry!
    I have had three occasions of true 'anger' in my life and can recall each one although many years in between and so long ago.
    But each time it was anger expressed because someone was severly mistreating another. I guess my anger was so profound that those involved literally backed away as I stepped in to defend the person being abused. Unfortunately, or fortunately, my face mirrors my feelings and I guess my expression was somewhat frightening. So angry that someone could treat another human being so coarsly.
    Other than that, what's the sense of anger? It's a waste of my precious time!

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  8. I enjoyed this post Ralf.

    If you read my post of last Saurday then I will tell you that snippets of your writing and wisdom have made it into 'that' notebook. :)

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  9. Isn't that so true! Too often I hold onto and nurse my grudge as if it punished the person who upset me. I am only hurting myself. Best to take a walk and let it go. Maybe tomorrow I'll do just that.

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  10. I wish I had the wisdom you show in your posts. They intrigue me.

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