The more quickly you can move from anger to action, the healthier and more effective you will be. That is what anger is for—motivating effective action to resolve a problem. Anger comes when you’re threatened or opposed in some way, and the action needs to be effective at removing the feeling or source of threat or opposition. That’s why most people don’t know what healthy anger is. Healthy anger is the fuel, the energy that motivates action to protect from threat and opposition.
Right now, my wife and I are facing a situation where a gas company has installed a huge 500 horsepower compressor next door to our home. Not only is it ugly to look at, it makes horrible noise, disturbing the peace in our home and on our property. Here’s the healthy anger part: we are absolutely determined that this will not steal our joy. We are talking to the necessary people to install the necessary equipment to control the noise, at the company’s expense. We are absolutely and totally determined that this problem will be resolved, and we feel very strong and confident in that. We’re not yelling at anyone or attacking or accusing anyone of anything. We need the peace and serenity of our home and property restored, and we are resolutely moving toward that outcome without any doubt that we will get exactly what we want.
Please feel free to offer your examples of healthy anger as a comment to this blog!
Also, listen to free previews of my audio program, “Healthy Anger and Your Health” here.
From Anger to Action « Anger Management « John Deerwood Weblog said,
October 17, 2007 at 7:19 pm
[...] Anger to Action « Anger Management From Anger to Action « Anger Management The more quickly you can move from anger to action, the healthier and more effective you will [...]
Jay said,
December 28, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Healthy anger can sometimes manifest itself into hard work or getting something done that’s been bugging you for ages!
Personal Development for the Book Smart said,
February 15, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I’ve always had a problem with anger and there was once I sought the help of fellow more experienced NLP coaches to help me overcome it.
They asked me one question which I found particularly interesting… Are you sure you want to get rid of anger completely? Aren’t there times when Anger might be useful?
I thought about it and said yes… Anger can be used to defend oneself against someone unreasonable.
I guess we need to know how to channel it properly so that it will serve us instead of harm us.
http://RichGrad.com
Personal Development for the Book Smart
Online Anger Management said,
February 17, 2008 at 6:07 am
Not all anger is bad, and it is possible to channel your anger and aggression into a positive outcome or use that energy to do something constructive rather than destructive.
Dr.Robert Heller said,
June 14, 2008 at 4:47 am
Anger like most emotions is powered by our thoughts, beliefs and evaluations. Cognitive distortions may make us needlessly or excessively angry at times. In my work as a psychologist I often help individuals recognize and change cognitive distortions which reduces the experience of anger.
Self Help Process said,
December 3, 2008 at 2:18 am
Online Anger Management, while you can better focus your energies it is still better health-wise not to use anger, but learn how to change and use positive emotions.
Peter said,
December 19, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Great concept on how to deal with anger. Most people forget that anger stems from their perception. By looking past that, and focusing on a resolution relieves the stress that unresolved anger can cause. Think about it, unresolved anger would not be a problem if it was resolved. Here’s a great addition to this post in mho….
http://yinvsyang.com/anger-management-the-secret-strength-of-diplomacy/656/