Categories
short stories

To hold anger is to blacken one’s soul

We all have feelings. This is what we are born with, and we separate them farther from one another as we get older. Using these emotions to the fullness of their power is what shows how humans are different from other creatures on earth. Below, you will see a list of human emotions. I ask that you read each word and decide what these words mean to you. I also want you to notice that love is at the top and fear is at the bottom of the list. 

Definition of Fear is:

  1. (countable) A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone.Not everybody has the same fears.  I have a fear of ants.
  2. (uncountable) A strong, uncontrollable, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat. He was struck by fear on seeing the snake.
  3. (uncountableTerrified veneration  or reverence, particularly towards God.
A woman bound, blindfolded and beaten shows true fear

Love is the most positive emotion we have, while fear is the most negative. All other emotions may be placed in a different order than seen here. This is just the way I lined them up from positive to negative in my thought process. If you wish to move the emotions in the list the way you feel they should fall, I suggest you do so. Furthermore, I maintain that “love” and “fear” remain in the positions I have assigned them. You may disagree with the statement that fear is the furthest from love, but that is because we have been describing this emotion incorrectly for many years. Fear is very powerful and not to be used lightly. When someone jumps out and scares you, this may be “surprise” or cause “anxiety,” but not true fear. One could even use annoyance, frustration, confusion, and many other emotions, but not necessarily “fear.”

  • Love
  • Happiness
  • Satisfaction
  • Affection
  • Self-confidence
  • Gratitude
  • Surprise
  • Sadness
  • Frustration
  • Embarrassment
  • Confusion
  • Boredom
  • Loneliness
  • Anxiety 
  • Shame
  • Annoyance
  • Disappointment
  • Jealousy
  • Pride
  • Envy
  • Disgust
  • Loathing
  • Anger
  • Fear

 

There are many that can be mixed with each other to form a hybrid of emotions. For example, we can take surprise and embarrassment and put them together to form a hybrid of what a certain situation may call for.

Many of the emotions listed above fall into the positive realm, like affection and gratitude. Others land in the negative realm, like fear and envy. Some may even teeter between the two realms, like surprise and pride. Although these last two can clearly be put on one side or the other, there are times when they may lean to the other side, given the right circumstance. Furthermore, they may be used in one realm while being misinterpreted by others or landing on the opposite side from what was meant. A great example is when a woman cries (in happiness or sadness).

Looking again at our list above, choose which of these words holds the most power. I would venture to guess that “love” is the response of more than 98 percent of those reading this post. I will not argue the point that “love” is a very powerful emotion. This is an emotion that is hard to explain but is very powerful when one experiences it. This is the emotion we all wish to have in our lives, and for good reason. The old adage, “Love makes the world go round,” holds a lot of truth to it. Besides, who doesn’t want love in their lives?

So, if love is the most powerful emotion, then we see the positive side as the powerful side. However, with the positive, there are also negatives. This is the side I wish to talk about today. Although the positive makes us feel all warm and fuzzy, we must also be aware of the negative. The negative can and will destroy all that we wish to experience in life. We look for love, but we dismiss what may keep us from achieving it. Take another look at the list above and see which word stands out other than love. Did you find it? Many of you may want to choose the opposite of love and choose fear. This would be a great choice, but not what I am aiming for.

Anger blackens one’s soul!

Man, in a shroud, yells with anger, consuming him.

Anger that is not released will do more destruction to your body than you will ever know. Anger that is not released will continue to build and consume whoever holds it close! Do you have true anger, or is it annoyance or maybe frustration? This is a question you must ask yourself. Anger is a black hole that will continue to consume you until all other emotions are devoured within its impenetrable shield! Anger is very dangerous to play with. Do we get angry once in a while? Of course we do. This is human nature. What is not in our nature is to hold onto anger and feed it until it consumes us. Let it go! Release the anger before it becomes the cancer it can become. Replace your anger with forgiveness and allow your innermost core to heal itself.

One thing you may consider is that it is easy to stay angry and build a life around it. It takes a stronger person to use his or her strength to release the anger and allow your insides some much-needed rest. When we are angry, our whole body, inside and out, is tensed up. This can cause harm to the body over time. not to mention the psychological pressure we are putting on ourselves. Think of how you feel when you are angry and the difference you feel when you practice forgiveness. Your body and mind will show you the difference. Do you want to feel the stress of anger, or would you rather feel the relief of peace? You can’t have both at the same time. Anger and rest are not compatible and can’t coexist. You must choose!

A person on the beach at sunset completely at peace

You may take my advice on anger or kick it to the curb. This is completely up to you. However, from one soul to another, I have lived with and without holding anger. I can honestly say that living without it is a better and healthier way to live. Take care, my friends, and remember, we are all in this together. 

Categories
short stories

Calming Pure Anger

If you are one of my readers, I’m sure you have noticed that I haven’t written a post of my own for a couple of weeks. I want to apologize, and I have decided to let you know why. I did get some great guest post writers during this time to make sure that you guys had something to read and learn from. I would like to thank Laura Moseley and Julia Mitchell for their great post, especially during this time. I believe they are both outstanding writers and feel you should go to their websites and see what else they have to offer. I hope to have them both back very soon.

Some of you know that I suffer nerve damage from an accident I had while working in a copper mine in Arizona. This is not an excuse for not writing, however, it has something to do with my absence. Just about everybody understands what nerve damage can do and the pain that goes with it. Things such as burning, losing control of extremities, itching, tightness and swelling to name a few. What those that have never experienced nerve damage don’t understand is the anxiety, depression and anger that come along as though the pain alone isn’t enough.

My anxiety has been through the roof, as of late, but that I handle with medication. The problem that has sidelined me has been pure anger. How can I write an uplifting post for my readers if I can’t even uplift myself? You may ask yourself why the anger? This I will try to explain the best that I can. Those of you in this position understand, but may not be able to find a way out of it. Although, I myself have been having great struggles with anger as of late, I have also been able to finally curtail it, but it has not been easy.

I have always been a person who jumps to get done whatever it is to be done in the safest, yet fastest way possible. I may complain and use some choice words during this time, but I was always working to finish the job, even while using the childish “complain phase”. Furthermore, I’ve done jobs that I hated, but I still got the job done. After becoming disabled, my whole world got turned upside down. All of a sudden, I can no longer jump right in and get the job done. No longer can I do what I want and speed through any situation. I now have to slow down and not do the things I used to be able to do, without major struggles. This alone makes me angry. And yet there is so much more to it.

Some things that I go through, have no explanations, and I will not try to explain to you what I can’t even explain to myself. The focus of this is to explain what I do know. I know that when I lose control of my hand and drop or crush a can of soda, anger is quick to come. I know that when I fall down in front of someone, without an obstacle causing it, first comes embarrassment, but anger is not far behind. The falls I keep to a minimum using a cane, yet even the stick fails me now and then.

So, throughout all my rambling and complaining, am I looking for sympathy? No, I am not! I am getting angry just admitting some of the things that make me angry. Crazy, huh? The only reason I decided to write this is to help others, in the same situation, to know there are others of us, and we need to be open about it and stop allowing the anger to get the best of us. Holding the anger in just multiplies it, however, we don’t want it to come out on others around us. I have found going to be by myself is the best I can do.

There are things like mindfulness that help in these situations, but I have found, I still must be alone for it to work. So alone time is the way to go in my opinion. The only thing to keep in mind, is don’t allow negative thoughts come in while relieving myself of anger. This is what I have been going through as of late. I believe I now have it under control, for the meantime. I am generally a kind person and when the anger hits, it is a shock to my system.

Most people that read this post will have no real idea of what I’m explaining. I would like to tell those people, there are people you know that are dealing with this and if they say to give them some space, time or to leave them alone, please give them this time to refocus. There is very little you can say to help other than you are there for them when needed.

Once again, I want to apologize to my readers for my absence. I will try to get back to my normal writing soon. I also am in the mist of creating a second website, where I have been writing short stories in various genres and will attach it to this website for those that have an interest, once it goes live. Furthermore, I want to thank you for sticking with me during this time, and I hope to bring more followers on board to help C.S.I grow. Take care, my friends, and remember, we are all in this together.