The August Ah-Man Newsletter focuses on Feelings and Being Judgmental, and I'll be continuing the discussion in my blog posts this month. You can catch up with the newsletter discussion HERE.
What a
wonderful part of being human. Could you imagine us not having feelings?
Everything
that we have…all that we experience…can be helpful. Feelings are something we –
each and every human being – all have in common. I don’t think they are a mistake. But how we
use them can be a mistake at times, I’m sure.
One of
the most controversial feelings I encounter when working with others (and with
myself, in the past) is anger.
In my
book, “Returning to Wholeness,
Discovering Ah-Man,”
there is a process that I outline to look at anger, and go through it, see the
faults and hurts it can cause, but also to see the benefits of it as well. So I
won’t go into depth here with “processing of anger.”
I want
to start by saying that each one of us is unique; each one of us has our own
individual way of processing the anger we experience. There could be formats, such as the one in my
book, which can help you process it, but you will have your very own wonderful
individual experience and going-forward way of handling it.
Be
careful of others who want you to process and feel the way they do concerning
anger or any other feeling you experience. God, Source, Higher Power, etc., has
made each of us different, so that the part of God, Source, the Higher Power
within us can experience each of us differently.
The
most important thing I have found with anger is the question of what we do with it. Do we use it as a
weapon? Or do we try to heal a little each time? Are we hurt or do we hurt
others by it?
Our
journey here is to move through this life, help ourselves first (remember that
when you’re on a plane, they always say to secure your own oxygen mask first),
then help others where and when you can.
When I
am angry, there are appropriate times to show it and times when it’s not safe
or appropriate to show it.
If I
show my anger, it is usually around someone with whom I feel safe enough to
show it, or when it needs to be displayed so that others do not take advantage
of a situation.
My
anger will subside in a relatively short time. I have it, experience it, and am
able to let it pass, usually. There are always exceptions to everything.
What’s
different about my experiences with anger today is that they don’t live on in
my head. They do not replay themselves over and over or keep me up at night.
The tools I have learned and shared with you in previous newsletters have
helped me resolve the anger within myself and/or given me the ability to
discuss the matter with that person at a more appropriate time when I’m in a
better frame of mind.
As we
have seen and even read, there are many books on anger, but be careful. Anger
is not a bad thing. God would not have given it to us, if it wasn’t a helpful
tool. So, try not to get caught up in changing who you are, look at more how to
see anger, where it is helpful in your life and where it is not.
Namaste,
Michael
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information and resources in the latest issue of the Ah-Man Newsletter. Read about his new book,
Returning to WHOLENESS… Discovering Ah-Man at Amazon.