The single best decision I’ve actually followed up on was
to ratchet down my tolerance for anger to zero.
This bears a little ‘splaination.
In the toing and froing of daily hecticity we encounter
multiple opportunities to take umbrage.
There is no end to the occasions for outrage. My epiphany was to stop and ask, “Who is my audience? Who cares if I’m angry?”
Of course it’s all just me in my metal think-tank, my
personal sensory deprivation pod, also known as the single-occupant vehicle on
the way to/from work.
Everyone is anonymous out there on the road. We’re not sporting very much on the exterior
that provides a reliable link to our life story. Yet we can react as if it were all so very
personal, our own maneuvers and the behavior we observe in others.
My goal was to spend less time (zero time) reacting in
anger at other people’s anonymous activities.
I developed this mantra: No Anger, No Impatience, (take) No
Offense. This is what I say over and
over while merging onto I-405.
Has it helped?
Yes, absolutely.
The mantra has helped me notice how often I flip from “doo
doo de doo” to “grrrr, grrr, arrrrgh” with apparent impunity. In private there seems to be no penalty for
nurturing the anger djinn but it has a bad effect on me and so I assume on
everyone else who keeps this little flame burning. As with most fire anger seeks to consume fuel
and will seek it indiscriminately.
My goal is to not be angry out in society or in private
or at the very least notice when I begin to queue up the justifications. The results are better sleep, better
digestion, and an odd awareness of how pervasive the anger response is in our
culture.
I’m saying it ain’t worth it, it’s not normal, it hurts
our tiny minds and short-circuits the attempts we make to stay connected with
our friends and family. No Anger, No
Impatience, (take) No Offense.
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