Letting go of anger is doable. As powerful and overwhelming as anger can be, there’s nothing solid or substantial about it. It’s made of thoughts and energy and it only becomes solid when we make it so in our mind. This being the case, on some level letting go of anger is straightforward and not so difficult.

And actually, we do it all the time. We let go of anger every day, but we’re not aware of this process because it just sort of happens as one thing in our day moves to another. Anger management is happening all day long without our even doing anything at all.

We might get pissed off in traffic and feel like we’re going to suffocate in frustration and anger, but then the cars start to move and all of a sudden we’re not angry any more. Another example is perhaps we are remembering something or someone that makes us angry, and we find ourselves lost in a bitter fantasy about the past. Then all of a sudden we’re distracted from our angry dream and without us even realizing it, it’s gone.

If you’ve done a lot of therapy or anger management, you may be acutely aware of how much you don’t let go. However it’s important also to acknowledge that really, you do let go of anger a great deal. You’re letting go of anger all the time, because that’s the nature of reality. Everything is continually changing, and we change right along with it, we can’t help it. Of course, a part of us does hold on, a part of us lives in continual resistance to the change of impermanence, but the greater part lets go, otherwise we’d all be standing around like frozen statues.

Letting Go of Anger is Natural

It’s our nature to let go in general, and it’s our nature to let go of anger. We’re letting go of anger all the time, even though we may not realize it. We can capitalize on this natural ability and increasingly leave our angry ways behind.

Even though our past experience may lead us to think otherwise, we can move forward and release our mind from the grip of anger. If we have this confidence, if we exert ourselves in letting go of anger, and if we stay the course, we can shift or habituation to anger and open to a more friendly and easy state of mind.

By Craig Mollins