On Holding Things In

How do you express anger? Do you try to pretend that you don’t get angry? Do you hold it in and suppress it until you pop your lid? It’s interesting how this topic came to mind. My friend was sharing about an incident that happened with one of her colleagues. She described the woman as quiet, godly, and sweet, but she went onto say that the woman had a complete breakdown in a meeting and displayed an angry side that no one could imagine was within her. I listened to her retelling of the incident, but then I thought, “I can relate to that.” How many times have I let little things go until they become a big thing? Not addressing the small annoyances and then finally I’m yelling and throwing things and the person on the receiving end is staring in disbelief? I rarely fly off the handle publicly, but internally there is a raging storm ready to be unleashed. Anger affects everyone, so how do we deal with it? I work out, so my worst days are spent walking it off, dancing it off, or lifting it off. Nowadays I tend to work the tension and anger off physically, but there was a time I ate the anger. I’ve been known to spew out the anger with ugly words. But what about those who always hold it in? Some people are so afraid to express anger that they suppress it, not realizing the internal damage they may be causing: high blood pressure, headaches, ulcers. In fact I’ve often read that anger turned inwards turns into depression. Anger is a real emotion that we all have to deal with. My prayer is that we confront it and then find a healthy way to let it out.