Photo source: Annekarin Glass

One of the things anger does is help create change. It is fundamentally creative energy with an impulse towards change and growth. Deep inside nobody wants to stay stuck in old unhealthy situations and patterns, and anger is the voice of our native intelligence coming up from the depths.

If someone does something to make us angry, we don’t want that to continue. When we get angry we’re saying “This needs to stop!” Anger is saying NO to a bad situation, and it rouses tremendous energy to that purpose. Similarly when our our own behavior is the source of the anger, when something we ourselves are doing is making us angry, the anger is telling us to change that behavior. Anger is a wake up call: it directs our attention to situations where change is needed.

The penetrating quality of anger is like a sword cutting through the crap in our life. This is why we need to listen. The way to listen is to be present with our anger, and not suppress it on the one hand, or habitually act it out on the other.

Acting out and suppressing prevent us from seeing the the intelligence of anger. A more helpful approach is to stay present with the naked energy of anger, and to continually ask ourselves, “Why am I angry?” What am I angry at?” We need to look into our heart and ask, “What is this anger trying to tell me?”

By Craig Mollins