IS ANGER A BAD EMOTION?

Anger seems to be a remote and relative emotion. It's very common in humans, more in some and less in others, depending on personality. But undoubtedly, almost everyone will experience the overwhelming loom of anger when bullied, treated unfairly, or cheated on.

But then, as unique as we humans are, many of us have ways in which we amazingly handle and logicalize our anger in our angry moments.

Anyway, let's get to the point of this article.

On one major observation, I have found that a lot of people believe that anger is a bad emotion and the typical cause of violence, misunderstanding, and misjudgement.

How I knew? Of course, it's evidenced by the quickness at which people weave out these sort of statement in some given situation: "You don't need to be angry", "That's a trivia issue just bottle it up", "Ohh, you're so short-tempered" and so on. All these are cues verifying that a lot of people see anger as BAD. 

But let's sincerely ask ourselves, "Is anger really a bad thing?"

You know, just like every other emotions – sadness, happiness or pain – anger is neither good nor bad. What takes the label is the reaction or response that we give from it.

For example, let's say you are angry at someone and you sucker punched him on the face; it's only your action that can be correctly labeled as bad which is not necessarily done in conjunction with your anger emotion. I mean, you could have chosen to talk things out instead, but you didn't.

Anger is NOT a bad thing. Infact, there are benefits to it, however subtle and unperceptible. 

Here is a few:

 𝟏. 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. Just like every other emotion, anger helps us to recognize who we truly are and what we are capable of; to know ourself at a deeper level. Whatever you do in your angry moment would provide some sort of insight to your very own personality. This wouldn't be observed if we always attempt to repress our anger. 

 𝟐. 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞. This is ironically true! Our anger create signals that allows people to know if we're okay with something they're doing or not. It's like a means of communication. People read emotions, and if they're clever – which is very probable – they can use that to make situations easy to cope with.  

 𝟑. 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬. If you're faced with a difficult problem which you never bargained for, you would get angry and may even feel some sort of indignation. But you know what? This is a subtle knack for motivation. If you truly get angry because a situation you're in is poor, you will do all it takes to get things right and find solutions to the problems at hand.

 𝟒. 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜. It's funny but true. It has been confirmed that the one thing in common between angry people and happy people is 'optimism'. Haven't you noticed how you feel that everything is possible when you get angry? That's optimism! Although, it's left to you on which direction you channel that anger, and how you use it.

So, there you go. Even if you think that anger is bad, you should know now that it's at least not as bad as you think. 

And please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that anger is good either. It doesn't take any label per se. Like I said before, emotions are emotions, but how you react or respond to them is what takes the label.

It's okay to feel angry but don't let it escalate and get out of control. Besides, it's when you have your anger under control that you'll be able to reap all the benefits of it.

Take this as a tip: when next you feel angry, do a quick self assessment. Ask yourself: "Why am I angry?" "Is there something else?" "What exactly do I want?" "Is this worth being angry about?" "What can I do differently to make the best out of the situation?" "What personal rule must I not go against?"

Trust me, if you can do proper assessment on yourself, you'll be able to get hold of your anger and reap the fulfilling benefits of it.

I believe you find this article a bit helpful?

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Thank you.