Anger: A full contact sport

The next morning Terry was at it again, ranting and raving about the legal system. I pulled him into my office.  Rather than rehash why he was in treatment, I decided to address his anger.

“There’s a poem I love that says the more sorrow carves into you the more joy you can hold.  I think I love it because other than some filthy limericks, it’s the only poem I know.  But listen, anger isn’t like sorrow.  The more anger hollows you out, the more anger you can hold.

“Oh, so I should never be angry?  Just you sayin’ that makes me mad!”

“No, there are times when anger makes sense, but you have to be careful anger doesn’t become your favorite contact sport.  People train their anger.  They build up their endurance for being angry, learning to hold grudges forever.  Like a batter develops an eye for the curve ball, they learn to anticipate where an interaction is going, imagining insults and reasons to overreact.  Right now you’re like a player blaming the officials for some infraction he truly did commit. Let it go.  Don’t play the game.  Complete treatment, avoid jail, leave here and never look back.”

Terry glared at me for a long moment before walking away.

“This is why I don’t do much clinical work anymore,” I muttered to myself, conscious of my own frustration.

Today I won’t let anger carve into me.

Life on Life’s Terms II © 2015 by Ken Montrose

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