October 21, 2009
Embrace your anger and respond to the cause for a happy life
Happy people have ups and downs like everyone else. Our negative emotions play an important role in healthy balanced living, just as our positive ones do. Dr. Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology says that our positive emotions draw us towards something and our negative emotions chase us away. Sometimes we react so strongly to the anger, we miss why we are angry in the first place.
Anger often indicates something we can change is inconsistent with our values and best interests. Anger even gives us a boost of energy to help us take action. The key to using anger productively is to react to its source in accordance with our deeper values. When we heal the source of our anger so everyone wins, we move into a happier life.
The Dalai Lama suggests that the inner discipline to maintain a calm mind that can observe the emotions with openness and curiosity rather than fear and over excitement is essential to using our emotions as indicators.
There are many ways to develop and cultivate this discipline including journaling, meditation, guided visualizations, neurolinguistic programming, prayer, and yoga. Here is a great source of journals ranging from completely blank to guided explorations of a particular element of a happy life. Use journaling to help you…
Embrace your anger and react to the source.
Affirmation
I embrace my anger and fear as signposts to situations I can improve. When I do what I can to create win-win situations that support my values, I create my happy life.
Journal or Meditation Question
Where have I felt anger lately? Have I suppressed my anger or transferred it to others rather than welcoming it as a signpost for my good actions? What could my good actions be in response to this anger?
Happiness is Contagious.
Spread Happiness by Forwarding the Happy Life Tip of the Week to a Friend!
To Subscribe