Defeating Anger With Compassion

When we let it, anger can take us over and change the person we are. The worst part about this is the fact that anger is a normal part of life and a natural emotion that every person experiences. We may not be able to avoid anger, however we can replace it. The next time you feel yourself becoming angry or frustrated with a person, try defeating anger with compassion.

Check out this article from The Daily News.

“One of the chief tasks of our time must surely be to build a global community in which all peoples can live together in mutual respect.”

 

~Karen Armstrong~

 

We seem to live in an angry world. Presidential candidates appeal to our displeasure with the way our country is and incite us to view it with angry eyes. We don’t think of anger as a state we enjoy. Would you want to be angry if you had the choice to be at peace? The problem is that we don’t always see peace as the alternative to anger.

 

Many people feel hopeless about their lives and helpless to change the things they don’t like. They feel crushed by the burden of their unhappy existence. Anger seems to bring them to life. At least they can feel something even if they don’t like what they feel. There is some satisfaction in knowing they can at least arouse themselves from dissatisfaction through anger all the way to rage.

 

The problem with a constant diet of anger is that it turns you inward to focus on your own troubles. It encourages you to feel sorry for yourself, jealous of what others have and angry at those whom you see as keeping you from attaining what you want from life. The angrier you get, the more stuck you feel. Do you recall the Uncle Remus tale about Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby? You might rage at others but nothing changes for you, at least not for the better.

 

What’s the alternative? Anger keeps you focused on your inner torments regardless of how much you blame others for them. How about compassion as an alternative? Maybe this never occurred to you. At first glance, the relationship between anger and compassion might appear puzzling.

Image Credit: newspirityoga

To learn even more about replacing anger, The Daily News