Why Anger is a Useful Emotion
Using anger resourcefully
Most of us have learned to judge anger as bad or wrong. This has been taught to us from an early age, through phrases such as “don’t get angry”, “control your temper”, “anger is wrong”, and “good people don’t get angry”.
We could be forgiven for thinking that this is justified. People have done some crazy things while experiencing anger. Indeed, most of us would have at least one angry story that doesn’t leave us feeling proud.
However, is anger the bad guy, or is it what we choose to do with our anger that is generating the poor publicity?
I think it is the latter.
Why Do We Experience Anger?
In every moment, we experience emotions. We may not notice these emotions, but they are there. Each emotion is a sign, telling us something about our experience of the world in that moment.
Anger is no different.
Anger tells us that we have interpreted something as wrong. So, when we see someone being bullied, anger may appear as a sign that we see this as wrong. If we don’t allow ourselves to experience anger in this moment, we won’t allow ourselves to acknowledge that the bullying is wrong. Anger, then, is bringing our morals to our attention.
