We grew up being conditioned to think that anger is a very negative emotion that should be limited as much as possible. Even in the middle of a pandemic, when so much has already gone wrong around the world and so much still has the potential to, we are expected to stay calm and poised. But the truth is, just like grief, it is a humane and natural feeling, it is one that can lead you to be more creative about expressing your thoughts.
Research has shown that human behaviour is inspired by 2 things – one’s desire to do something great and one’s need to leave what’s disturbing their state of mind. And, contrary to popular belief, recently it’s being shown that anger falls in the first category, making people push their way to their goals rather than giving up on their dreams.
And, not just that, anger and other “negative” emotions tend to let us use our skills with more flair whereas “positive” feelings diminish that talent. It can help connect dots in our mind faster and with confidence for us to come up with innovative ideas – and that’s why so many successful people have given rise to their empire after being angry, or disheartened, over their past.
The worst thing we can do is try to suppress our feelings, and that includes anger too. We don’t need to manage our anger but merely transform it, we should give it an outlet that can be appreciated by everyone.
But workplaces having “anger rooms” aren’t the solution. Even though they provide us with a sense of relief and humour, it doesn’t last for even an hour. We shouldn’t get carried away and take decisions in the heat of the moment, but actually use our anger to focus and analyse matters in depth – because anger, when dealt with strategically, will not cloud our judgement but motivate us find solutions to problems.
We could indulge in a type of art, like music, painting, or writing, that we enjoy to create a masterpiece or even address the issues, injustice, or struggles in our society and call for change. We should weaponize our anger in a way that can leave a good and productive impact.
