03/09/2026
Anger can be either destructive or constructive. But how do I know the difference?
Anger is a part of life. To deny it we deny ourselves being human, consequently it grows stronger and becomes more destructive. Since it is a part of our human existence, what do we do with it?
Listen to the anger, do the best you can to react less to it and not become the anger. I have failed many times and I have learnt that by reacting to my anger, I have dug myself deeper into the darkness that anger brings with it. However, with awareness, when I listen to this emotional turmoil, I hear myself calling out for something that needs attention.
Without awareness, this part of us, so desperately requiring attention, is used as a psychological weapon, either on ourselves or on others, and it becomes destructive. Awareness is the light that we bring into the darkness of anger. It gives us a minimal chance of looking at what is really happening within this place of shadows.
We give ourselves this minimal chance to ask “why am I angry?”, “why am I so scared?”, “what is it I want right now?”. With this awareness I can step back in the light and courageously see what is really required of me.
Anger usually requires something to be addressed, as opposed to a reaction of fight or flight. This might be something we need to address within or without. Mostly I find it is something that I am required to look within. Its roots are mostly in fears. The Fear of loss, the fear of no control, the fear of inadequacy, the fear of abandonment, the fear of loneliness.
I may yet find the answer requires consciously addressing it with someone else for the same reasons. Not in the darkness of "I'm right and you are wrong" , but in that vulnerability of care about our relationship. And as I do so, I am required to bring that same awareness with me, to be mindful of the expectations anger, still lurking in the shadows, might have of the outcomes of my expressions.
Constructive anger is accompanied with compassion, understanding and forgiveness. It is the most difficult path of a peaceful warrior to follow, because it is much easier to destroy than create, and so often creating is facing another fear…letting go.