Horse 589 - On Anger

The last two days have been somewhat cranky for me. Someone (who will not be named, so that they don't know who they are) said something rather hurtful to me and although I could have retaliated I decided on the spot that the best course of action would be to let the whole thing die off and be forgotten. Consequently I said nothing and squelched it on the spot.

There's a few things and principles that have sprung to mind of the last few days. Among which are a couple of verses in 1 Peter and James.
And above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. - 1 Peter 4:8-9
Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. - James 1:19-20

Anger is not of itself a bad thing. I have heard it said that anger is not an emotion but a reaction. This is only half right because it is possible to be angry in empathy even upon reading and perceived injustice.

I would guess that rather than a passive emotion like sadness, anger is active and is usually employed or triggered with an express purpose of attacking the cause of the problem whether it be feasible or not. In the case of most argument, anger is merely employed to rise up against opposition and does not actually address the problem at hand.

The problem is when it is allowed to persist or is employed as the first line of defence. I think that if properly employed, anger (if allowed to simmer rather than explode) can be directed to actually force a change in something. Thankfully, I've noticed a distinct difference in the way I handle things. The person in question will never know that I was angry with them and because of this, they can't hold this back over my head at some point in the future.

I guess that apart from this post no-one will ever even know; in a few days not even I will what this was about - mission accomplished ^_^