Is anger growing on our planet? Or is it just me? I normally am not an angry person myself, but honestly, it feels like there is a growing energy of people on edge, ready to blow at the slightest thing that irritates them and I’m really struggling with that, as I’m extremely sensitive to it all.
Growing up with anger present more than not in my family household, I cringe when anyone these days is yelling or raising their voice or releasing anger in some way. Case in point, I was on the highway the other day driving 62 in a 60-speed limit in the middle lane when suddenly an 18-wheeler to my right laid on their horn for more than 2 minutes at me because I was going too slow in their opinion. It definitely rattled my chain quite a bit. This incident is so symbolic of how I see our world is becoming. where more and more people would rather be angry than not.
Our world resembles so much like one of those old kettles on the stove now, one that keeps reaching that boiling point where it emanates that loud scream-like noise each time it does, which roughly translates to one terrible tragedy after another, one we keep seeing in the news that’s violent in nature. Heck, it’s become a regular thing on my street these days to hear people ragefully screaming from within their own homes at another, especially late at night.
Why are people so angry? Is it because of the state of our world? The state of our country? The state of this pandemic and other growing diseases? The state of our economy? The state of our financial status? Or….is it simply due to the state within each of us? Maybe the real reason why there is so much anger right now is that all the stuff so many of us have kept suppressed for years, if not for our lifetime, is finally surfacing, forcing us to face it? Unfortunately, many are still trying to avoid doing that by choosing either addiction or lashing out in anger at another to deal with it each time it arises.
I’ve come to learn in my own spiritual journey that when I’m angry, it’s never about someone else, even if there is some event that seems to trigger that feeling within me. It’s ALWAYS about me. ALWAYS. But sometimes I don’t see it right away and instead regrettably end up taking it out on another, hurting them in the process, only furthering this anger problem on our planet.
The anger in our world will never go away until we address all the anger going on within us and find its true source. Unfortunately, most are prone to believe their anger is the fault of another. I can promise you that even if everything actually went out way, every single day, and even if everything we think should be happening in the way we want, actually did happen in that way, we still are going to remain angry people until we address all our unresolved issues, traumas, wounds, past pains, and the like. And just because they are in the past doesn’t mean they are truly gone. Just because you may not feel angry at some past negative part of your life right now, doesn’t mean its fully healed either. A great example of this was someone lashing out in anger at me recently when they thought I was using them, when I wasn’t. While my actions might have seemed like I was from their perspective, I honestly believe it was simply a triggering event from them allowing themselves to be used many times in the past by others.
Nevertheless, whenever I’m feeling angry, there is only one solution I’ve found to dispel it, and that’s not to take it out on another, as doing so only leaves me feeling guilty and still angry, often at myself in the process. The solution is prayer, even if I don’t know the true purpose and efficacy of it, given how many prayers often seem to go unanswered in this world. Because whenever I’m angry and choose to pray, once I find my heart during it, where tears flow from my eyes, the anger always leaves me, leaving behind a cooled down kettle, and a person far more open to unconditional love and understanding.
Look, our world is a ticking time bomb right now, and the explosions only seem to be getting bigger and bigger and bigger. I hope for the sake of each of us, that we stop blaming others for any anger that arises within ourselves and instead start taking a hard look at why we’re getting angry in the first place. When we stop lashing our anger outward and instead start addressing the source of it within us, our world will become one more filled with peace than volatility, as we become one more at peace with ourselves and everyone around us…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
