Look Back In Anger

“Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness." - James Thurber

Denying anger is not only pointless but almost impossible. From our primal past, we have inherited what seems to be a damaging and redundant talent. It is an extreme emotion that seems somehow distant from the rest of our feelings.

We know the positive effects it can have on us physically, but mentally and spiritually, it can be a blessing and a curse. As it focuses our energy, it can let us achieve almost superhuman feats but, it can cloud our judgment and guide us to catastrophe. Rarely does anger provide any spiritual benefit or, so it would seem.

Often, it is suggested we suppress our anger or find a suitable outlet for our rage in hobbies or sports. Is this truly a way to accept yourself and be connected. Over and over, we have said that 'you are awesome.' Achieving that is in realizing your potential and utilizing all your gifts to their fullest potential.

The ancients believed we consist of the elements, Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Spirit. There can be no doubt that anger is firmly an emotion founded in Fire. It has raw energy, heat, and destruction. Just as man discovered to harness Fire, so we must rediscover how to harness our rage.

Training requires time, location, drive, and focus. The first step to control is to be able to summon anger. Ensure you have thirty minutes without interruption and find a quiet place. Imagine yourself in a peaceful location, without details, and free from distraction. We need a mentally blank canvas.

Find your rage. Feel inside yourself and find the spark of anger. Try to avoid visualization. If you must recall a situation to invoke fury, then do so. Practice summoning the feeling without imagery as you go on. Breathe in and as your lungs fill, let the air fan the flame. Exhale and mentally feel the Fire reduce. Repeat this a dozen times, each time letting the feeling grow. Let your body contain the sensation and let it fill your being. As it intensifies, you may feel your heart race or your limbs tremble; this is a sign that you are doing it right. Your mind is controlling your body.

Using visualization and imagination to initiate the feeling or state we are seeking to begin. Do not let it distract you. You are ultimately seeking control of the emotion of rage, do not focus overly on color, temperature, or the triggers that you used. Practice creating this mental state without using visualization until you can summon it on demand. Enhance this by feeling the anger in the world around you. A sad indictment of the modern-day is that there is always too much anger in the world.

At first, it is hard to maintain this emotion for long in our passive state. It will come with time. Having the ability to summon our rage and capture it in our mental cage is just the first part of our training. We now need to bend it to our will. Like a wild thing, we teach it that we are the master. We summon it on demand. The next stage is to dispel it.

Earlier, we talked about suppressing our fury; this is harmful and unhealthy. A suppressed anger will escape our mental chains sooner or later and create havoc. Unfulfilled rage can turn into resentment that can taint every aspect of our lives, avoid this at all costs.

We also mentioned finding a suitable outlet to release this passion; this a poor substitute. If our goals lie in exercise or exertion, then anger can be used to push our limits. For the spiritual acolyte, using our anger in this way is wasteful and empty.

Just as we summon our fury from the world around us, so too can we dispel it there. Take extreme care when dispelling rage. Too often, people pass their anger onto others, releasing their own tension by instilling indignation in our fellows. Unkind and unhelpful, this can also rebound back an exact a bitter revenge. Karma sucks.

When we train our rage, we do so for a real goal. Often we must store our anger away until it is required. Transferring our anger into an object, a crystal, a book, or a tool is the stuff of myth and legend, but often based on fact. Our mind allows us to place our anger in the inanimate to summon when needed, again practice, practice, practice.

Logic only holds true until disproven. Unless there are mountains I can see for miles, therefore the world is flat, the stars move when I stan still, so the stars are moving, not me. We may laugh at these misconceptions, but they were all facts until disproven. In finding our connection, we must suspend our disbelief and set aside our logic. Accept and enjoy it.

Anger is an energy that lies outside the realm of the beasts. It is the Fire that man discovered. It allows creation or destruction in equal measure. Sadly, we see it more often used for the latter. Like any energy, we should use it with thought and purpose. It is neither good nor bad. It is how we choose to apply it that dictates its moral value.

It is important to cast aside our negative expectations of anger; realizing it as a power source, we can apply it to any goal. Untrained, it will center itself between mind and heart, blocking our thinking or firing up our passion. If you think of your Chakras, it sits on the Throat Chakra. "Words spoken in anger leave wounds that never heal." Place your anger in your Root Chakra in your Earth Center, and it can become the powerhouse that drives you to greatness.