The secret's out - anger is a normal human emotion. It's actually healthy and good to express anger.
Did you grow up hearing that anger is bad, that it’s not something you should express? If this was part of your childhood programing, you may have automatically swept angry emotions under the carpet and found it difficult to express your true need and wants.
As we mature, we realize that stuffing it doesn’t serve us, yet we’re left grappling to discover a good way to deal with our anger that doesn’t feel bad or wrong.
Anger is often demonized because it is associated with rage. When these lines are blurred, we fail to see the difference.
Channeling anger for good is very different from rage which is an out of control expression of anger with the intent to harm someone, create pain or get revenge.
There’s a clear distinction.Feeling and expressing anger gets stuck emotions up and out versus allowing them to fester and ferment. This prevents toxic emotional buildup before it can spill over into relationships or other parts of life.
Anger pushes us to speak up instead of remaining quiet or stuffing emotions and needs. Anger shows us when a boundary has been violated.
Anger pushes us to speak up instead of remaining quiet or stuffing emotions and needs:'
Anger makes us aware of personal and social injustices and mobilizes us to create necessary change. If something touches us deeply and we decide it’s too important to just passively sit back and complain, anger is the catalyst to creating positive solutions. It motivates us to do something constructive – to right a wrong or change a situation we view as unjust or harmful.
Repressing anger is actually what's unhealthy.
We can own the emotion of anger without guilt if we use anger as an energizing tool to create change. Anger can accelerate success when dealing with habit change and reaching goals.
Anger allows stuck emotions to come up and out. Only then can we see what’s really hiding behind our anger. Constructively expressing anger allows us to see where and why we’re stuck. Sometimes we need to purge the anger from our past before we can clearly see our next right step.
Anger’s big bonus: In the process of owning and constructively expressing anger we can recognize our true worth. We notice how we deserve to be treated.
The wisdom of anger allows us to discover and step into our worthiness. Worthiness is actually a byproduct of the constructive expression of anger.
We find the strength and grace to say no to what we don’t want. This opens the door to feeling worthy, feeling good enough and becoming aligned with our purpose.
Constructive anger is passion in action. It will allow us to take the next steps on our personal path to fulfilling our higher purpose.
About the Author
Linda Mitchell, a Professional Transformational Coach, is the founder of Linda Mitchell Coaching and Healing. She has been coaching and practicing in the healing arts for over 20 years, operating from a deep desire to empower people to move through life’s many challenges and transitions with ease and grace. Her unique “Reinvention Program” helps people reclaim balance, and better health and gain clarity on their next steps in order to define, create and truly live the life they desire.