Courtesy Andrew Mason
I like to think I’m a fairly optimistic person. I do my best to appreciate all the wonderful things in life. But there are some things that make me angry as hell, even if it’s just for a little while.
Contrary to popular belief, being angry isn’t always bad. It’s a natural emotion that everyone feels, and many times becoming aware of your anger can lead to pursuing your passion. In fact if you aren’t sure what you’re passionate about ask yourself:
“What makes me angry?”
I’m not talking about the kind of anger that makes you do stupid shit, the anger that hurts other people and cultures. I’m not talking about the anger that lowers the consciousness of humanity. I’m talking about the anger that inspires you to get up and create a better world.
Anger when channeled correctly is a powerful source of motivation. Properly used, anger breeds passion and passion spawns action. And it is action that transforms the world.
Think about all the people who have created significant change in their life times. They first got angry about something then used all their resources modify the current situation.
I’ve been thinking about what motivates me lately and and I’ve found anger to be a reoccurring theme.
Here are just a few things that make get me fired up.
People doing things they hate. Poverty. Ignorance. Complexity. Drama. Negativity.
As you can see I have my work cut out for me. Whatever irritates you becomes your responsibility to fix. It’s not enough to just notice what makes you angry. Instead do whatever it takes to create an opposite affect. Complaining about what bothers you does nothing but make the situation worse. Action, not whining is what makes the world move.
What makes you angry? Are you using your anger to create change? Get angry. Get pissed. Change the world.
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Hi Bud.
Good call here. Some anger really does bring about change. When there is too much of a lack of anger or discontent, there are likely to be larger problems in place. We have to appreciate the times we are angry, because they represent quite a bit of energy inside of us to effect change.
Anger in moderation is a sign of good health. A home with no anger in it is a lot like an empty house.
I’m angry when I’m not running at full speed, after having seen how well I do when running at full speed.
@ Armen
Thanks for stopping by! I liked your analogy about an empty house. Out of curiosity.. what stops you from running at full speed?
Oh, that is mostly of my own doing. I might put my speed on hold for a small distraction, until my momentum is slowed down, or might think a negative thought that cuts the momentum down in that way. Those are the two ways that come to mind. Negative thoughts and acceptance of distractions are terrible for momentum maintenance.
I tend to only get angry at myself. If I’ve done something stupid without thinking I let the expletives fly. I don’t know how healthy that is, but it’s my habit.
One of my favorite songs — “Out of Range” by Ani DiFranco — contains these lyrics: “If you’re not angry, you’re just stupid or you don’t care/How else can you react when you see something’s so unfair?” While I can’t say I’m a huge proponent of anger, I do think it has a valuable purpose and can actually be used for a lot of good if channelled in the right way. Great post!
@Gordie: Glad you’re honest with yourself. What are some ways you can break this habit?
“Anger is one letter short for dAnger” I got this quote somewhere in the web, and I liked it because it’s so true. But then, you just gave me the change to realize that, anger is not really a bad thing at all.
Very nice post, dude.
@Kelvin: It matters what you do WITH your anger. Again I’m not suggesting you purposefully become angry, that would be silly. Accepting your anger and using it for motivation is a powerful tool.
True words. If you just sit there and maintain quiet about your anger, nothing will change and you will end up feeling like a useless piece of junk. If you channel it into movement, the energy of anger will take you far. There are so many examples for that in history – and while it’s usually the younger ones that are fueled by their anger, this is a good reminder for older people, too…
Nice post, Bud. Reminds me of a quote Teddy Roosevelt had about muckrakers.
For those of you who aren’t history majors, muckrakers were progressive journalists who tried to expose the problems of society at the turn of the 20th century. TR, though a progressive, recognized their value, but disliked those muckrakers who wrote and did nothing else to further their cause. To quote:
“But the man who never does anything else, who never thinks or speaks or writes, save of his feats with the muck-rake, speedily becomes, not a help to society, not an incitement to good, but one of the most potent forces of evil.”
Ergo, if you complain and get angry, DO SOMETHING constructive with it instead of just whining about it. Take right action. This is the take-away message of the post.
Do you not think that anger, although powerful, is quite a negative source of motivation?
Bud,
I’ve never really thought of anger in the way that you have described it here. The funny thing is my dad always says you should never make any decisions in anger. But I think you have made an interesting distinction here about how to leverage anger in a positive way and turn it into something useful.
Hey, this is a nice wake-up call. Being angry connotes negativity, but you have made it possible to make it a positivity. Thanks for this wisdom.
I like this way of thought a lot. Because for me, the only way I thought to do something positive would be to be in a positive mindset. But, you’re right, when I’m angry, instead hitting my head against the wall, so-to-speak, I can change the things in my life that make me angry: usually my lack of productivity… and other people’s ignorance at times.
I like this blog a lot. Keep it up. And nice simple Wordpress theme too!
Hey Bud,
Absolutely, anger and being disappointed motivate a lot of people, including you and me. I’ve been recently elected head of the youth council in our town, and we open all our meetings with “So, what made you disappointed in our town during the last month?”. And we discuss the issue that made people disappointed. Just like pain, anger is a sign that something around us is not alright, and needs to be fixed.
While I also consider myself generally positive, I think that anger and sadness are natural parts of our life and should not be muted.