Anger Management

      Marshall Goldsmith tells us a good story in his book about a young farmer who was going upstream in his boat through a river to deliver his produce to the village. The young farmer was in a hurry. It was a hot day and he wanted to make his delivery and get home before dark. As he looked ahead, he spotted another boat, heading rapidly downstream towards his boat. This boat seemed to be making every effort to hit him. He rowed furiously to get out of the way, but it didn't seem to help.

He yelled at the other boat, " Change direction, you idiot! You are going to hit me. The river is wide. Be careful!" His screaming was to no avail. The other boat hit his boat and he was enraged as he stood up and cried out to the other boat, " You moron! How could you manage to hit my boat in the middle of this wide river? What is wrong with you? "

As he looked at the other boat, he realized that there was no one in the other boat. He was screaming at an empty boat which was going downstream with the current!

The lesson is simple- There is never anyone in the other boat. When we are angry, we are screaming at an empty boat! All of us have people in our lives who drive us crazy, whom we hate with a passion. The best course of action for dealing with people like this is not let them make us angry. Getting angry doesn't improve the situation and life's too short to waste on feeling bad. It can only help us to lose our reputation as a person who always gets angry.

      There are thousands of books, articles and websites which tells us how to control the anger. But let me try to give the most simple and the best among all these I have read. Paul Deeds of Crystal Concepts suggests, when the anger runs through our blood streams, try doing the following :

• 1. Calm Yourself : Take a deep breath, picture a relaxing scene you like and tell yourself," Relax, take it easy "

  2. Think twice before you say anything : When angry, it is easy to start cursing or saying wild things to our target. Pause a while and think is it worth picking up this fight. Is it better to be silent?

  3. Take a small walk : Walking makes our brain to release endorphins which gives a sense of well being and makes us relax.

  4. Don't hold grudges : Be forgiving to the people who have angered you. This is a great way to show them that you are not angry anymore. But don't think that the other people will follow your example. It is unrealistic to think that all people should behave the same way like You.

  5. Make an " Anger Log Book " : Write down all situations that set you off in an "anger logbook". This keeps track of your reactions to everyday situations. This is a very useful tool in keeping your anger in check as you can review the situation and try to solve it on a later date.

  6. Learn some relaxation skills : Learning relaxation techniques like deep breathing exercise or meditation or yoga can help us to control our anger.

  7. Let go of your anger : Now that we have our anger under control, we can start expressing it without damaging any relationships or properties. Always remember, anger can really damage your health and its better you let it go than bringing your blood pressure up.

So next time when you start to speak out of anger, better you look in the mirror. In every case you find that the root of your rage is not "out there" but "in here", you are no more a human bomb who carries anger- the deadly weapon which is the biggest obstacle to our personal and professional success.