Never act in a state of anger. Take the time to cool down, think, and come back at another time.
My friends have been an immense help over the past few weeks. Most recently, when I was going through my angry stage of the five stages of grief, my friend talked with me and brought me back to rational thinking.
Anger is a crazy emotion and I really do not like feeling it. Luckily it’s rare for me after practicing Stoicism for a while, but I still experience it. Anger makes me abandon all rationality and come up with outlandish solutions to my problems. I want to cut people out of my life, lock myself in my apartment, be alone, scream, and curse the Universe.
When anger strikes, we need to acknowledge it’s presence and prevent its escape. If we let it control or action, it leads to poor decisions and regret. The only way to do that is to take time to return to your normal, non-emotional state. That takes time and a lot of presence.
After talking with my friend and coming up with a rational plan, I felt much more sure of what I need to do from here. I started thinking logically about the situation and what I want the future to look like. I wrote down my thoughts and have been taking a couple days to self reflect. I know what needs to be done, now it’s just a matter of doing it.
The next time you feel anger rise, catch it early and stop it in its tracks. The emotion will be there, but you cannot act on it. Do everything in your power to make it through the situation then take some time to cool down. Don’t make any decisions in the moment. Wait until you’re thinking logically again.
September 17, 2024
