Anger seems to be a negative emotion. When we experience this feeling, we immediately tell ourselves to calm down, exhale. But denying your anger and hiding it inside is not necessary. Anger gives us tremendous energy. We give five tips on how to do it.
“My life is full of love, abundance, kindness and compassion.” I constantly repeat this mantra to myself, I write these words in calligraphy on beautiful paper, I say this to myself in front of a mirror, I write on the margins and scraps of paper and tell all my friends … and most often I follow these principles.
But at some point it all goes away and I am consumed by real rage. Heart pounding, breath caught, teeth clenched. All attempts to calm down lead to nothing. This emotion seems completely useless and ineffective, but it is not.
Anger is a colossal energy, and it does not always lead to undesirable results for us. She calls us to action. “Wherever there is injustice, there is anger,” says Scylla Elvorti, an activist and campaigner for peace and disarmament. Anger is like gasoline: if it is spilled everywhere and someone throws a match, a terrible fire will start.
But anger as a fuel for the “engine” has great power. And if we can feed our “motor” with anger, it will move us forward, help us overcome any life hardships and give us real inner strength.”
It turns out that anger can be tamed and redirected to good causes. But you need to act quickly. Several studies have shown that anger increases creativity, but this positive effect does not last long, because anger, by its very nature, quickly drains us.
Creativity and anger come from the same source in the human psyche. This source is the human potential
The connection between anger and creativity has been known for a long time. The ancient Greek word “daimonic”, on the one hand, is associated with evil demons, but is also translated as “deity, genius, spirit of inspiration.”
From a psychological point of view, this means elemental strength, an indomitable desire for individualism. “In the daimonic model, creativity and anger, constructive and destructive, come from the same source in the human psyche,” wrote American existential psychologist and psychotherapist Rollo May. “This source is the human potential.”
Taking advantage of anger
Therefore, in order to turn your anger to your advantage, it must not be suppressed, but redirected. Here are 5 tips to help you do just that:
Look for creative solutions. Anger often awakens in us memories of past hurts and failures, and we fantasize how things could have turned out differently. Such fantasies can awaken our creativity and help to find non-standard solutions.
Give yourself some courage. Anger gives focus, energy and perseverance that can help us overcome obstacles and difficulties.
Get to know yourself better. Understanding what usually provokes anger attacks in us, we will take an important step towards self-improvement. Understanding the causes of anger helps us stop falling into a rage and redirect this energy to creative tasks.
Have a brainstorm. When we experience strong emotions, we often think unstructured and out of the box. At such moments, we are able to go beyond pattern thinking. It’s time to grab a pencil and write down the ideas that come to mind.
Go in for sports. Anger causes a surge of energy, which will allow you to forget about fatigue. This energy can be used to achieve the desired results in sports or fitness, at the same time getting a portion of the “feel good hormones” – endorphins.