‘Everyday’ Intelligence: Feeling Angry Today?

 Link to podcast to follow

We’ve all had bad news on a Friday morning; a good example of that is someone coming up to you at work and patting you on the back whilst laughing heartily and saying something along the lines of:

‘Long week, looong week! Thank God tomorrow’s Friday, eh, buddy?’

Most often than not, of course, the ‘bad’ news are not as bad as they initially seem; they’re much worse.

For instance, chances are that your colleague was, in fact, pulling your leg in that it wasn’t Friday tomorrow; it was actually Thursday.

Naturally, he would’ve found that hilarious; you, on the other hand, wouldn’t have found it amusing in the slightest.

To you, it would’ve been as amusing as the following…joke:

‘My father went into our backyard the other day, dug a hole and filled it with water…Poor thing, he meant well…’

Sad, at the very least. So sad, in fact, that I’m almost certain it made you laugh.

But you don’t WANT to laugh; you want to be angry. In fact, the angrier you feel, the angrier you want to be.

Regardless of the gravity or nature of the issue that initially got you mad, your mind starts racing for other potential catalysts to fuel your anger.

• That person who bumped into you over lunch.
• That drink you spilt on your new tie yesterday.
• That train to London you missed a couple of months ago.
• The relationship you messed up three years ago.
• That lecturer who constantly gave you 68% just to annoy you at university.
• The obnoxious eight grader who picked on you some fifteen years ago.

How could you have possibly ignored all of those things at the time, you wonder?

You suddenly feel so angry that you can…

…you can…what?

Nothing, that’s what.

Look at what’s happened; being angry has made you go back to past occurrences that have no relevance to your present.

A friend of mine once said:

‘I never look back because I’m not headed that way.’

Quite simple, really.

Further to the above, anger clouds your judgment and prevents you from thinking in a clear and logical manner.

To get back to our example above, whilst in a fit of rage, you are quite likely to tell your colleague something along the lines of:

‘Shut the Hell up, Joe! I know full well that it’s not Friday today and I don’t need any muppets to remind me of that! Now get back to work and leave me alone!’

Uttering the above will give you a temporary, brief and unjustified sense of satisfaction. What it will also lead to is, put simply, a lot of trouble. Raising your voice at a colleague and being rude for no reason? Calling someone at work a ‘muppet’? Telling a colleague of an equal rank to ‘get back to work’?

That’s not going to fly, is it now…?

So, next time something makes you angry, calm down before doing ANYTHING.

Let me suggest a couple of effective ways of doing it:

1. Take up boxing, three times a week. 
2. Say ‘Goosfraba’, inhale deeply once, now exhale deeply once, now listen to this: