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The Biggest Problem with Irrational Anger is That It’s Irrational
This is true of any irrational emotion.
Something crawled into my brain this morning and took root.
Before I knew it, I was chewing on some very unpleasant thoughts, and getting increasingly frustrated by things not in my control.
Before long, my anger was bubbling over. I felt as if I would burst if I didn’t let it out. Think of a classic pressure cooker in need of release.
I grabbed the keys and went for a walk.
As I took my walk, I let my anger wash through me and started to rant to myself. That released the pressure — and soon I was applying my logic and reason, via mindfulness, to overcome the anger.
But the most interesting thing I learned from this was that irrational anger is truly irrational.
No shit, Sherlock, right? But that doesn’t mean I didn’t learn something.
The irrationality of strong emotions
After working off the anger and applying mindful reason and logic to overcome it — I had a second experience with anger.
This one, however, was over something mostly rational and at least slightly in my control.
