Too Much Anger...

When I was a little kid, I "paid attention" a lot. That is to say, I was always looking at the people in my environment, studying them; trying to understand them.

I think what frightened me the most was the seething anger so many seemed to have, simmering just below the surface.

I have "anger issues!"

That is to say, I have issues with other people's anger, especially when it becomes pervasive and manifests almost like a personality trait, rather than merelt a feeling.

My own father was a bit of a "case study" in that respect... in the sense that he was angry, more than he felt angry.

Yes, of course I feel anger, too. But it's a momentary flash of heat that dissipates in a matter of a few seconds. It's not a lifestyle.

I have lived plenty of life and had plenty of traumatic and tragic experiences that would — by most societal measures — afford me ample reasons to be angry.

But to what end? Would carrying a ball of rage around really make things better? I know it certainly wouldn't enable me to magically go back in time to undo past injustices!

It's interesting — and a little scary — just how much people not only live in states of anger, but fly into fits of rage over the tiniest mishaps on the road of life. I wonder who told them that their world would be free from setbacks?

Sometimes I wonder why people "value" anger, as much as they do.

Maybe "value" is the wrong word, but anger is one of the emotions that ranks high on the very short list of "Societally Acceptable Emotions to Have." At least the ones you can have without some psychiatrist insisting that you need to be medicated into oblivion.

Ironically, having "escaped" from my father's furious nature when I was 18, I later ended up living with someone who had "anger management issues" for more than a decade.

All these years later, I continue to ponder the old question that has been rattling around in my mind: Why are so many people so angry... and where do I find the kind and not-angry people of the world? They seem remarkably scarce...

As I have aged, I have come to increasingly understand that part of my reclusiveness is a result of wanting to get away from what feels like a perpetual maelstrom of rage, virtually everywhere I go... whether it's parents yelling at their kids; spouses/partners being abusive to each other; bullies... whatever.

I'm glad I periodically bump into those — rare as they might be — whose psyches and spirits are not rooted in rage!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great rest of your week!

How about YOU? How do you feel about angry people? Are you easily given to fits of anger, yourself? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2025.09.10 00:15 PDT
x991/2225