| Everyone wants to be beautiful, young, healthy | | | | Today we fear many external enemies. It is not |
| and fit. There is no end to the diets, workouts | | | | so easy to realize, however, that the worst |
| and health plans. Yet the most important diet of | | | | enemy we face is this anger that resides within, |
| all has been overlooked. This is a diet that | | | | the terror it causes us, and the ways in which this |
| releases stress, relaxes muscles, offers sound | | | | poison dictates so much of our lives. |
| sleep, diminishes appetite, and makes you look | | | | Anger has many faces. It appears in many forms |
| and feel younger; it brings you new friends, a | | | | and creates different consequences. Anger that is |
| happy work environment, good relationships, and | | | | overt and clear cut is the simplest to deal with |
| adds years to your life. This is the diet from | | | | and understand. When we or someone we know |
| anger' one of the worst plagues facing our nation. | | | | is openly angry, we know what we are up against |
| Anger is a serious problem for one in every five | | | | and can directly address the cause. |
| Americans. Road rage, workplace violence, school | | | | Most anger lurks beneath the surface, however. It |
| shootings, domestic abuse and addiction are just a | | | | often does not even come to our awareness and |
| few of its many outlets. The reason such a huge | | | | manifests in endless, hidden ways - as depression, |
| proportion of our nation is on anti-depressants, | | | | anxiety, apathy, hopelessness, and in many, many |
| involved in alcohol, and drug addiction, overweight, | | | | other forms. |
| in broken relationships and involved in all kinds of | | | | It is crucial that we recognize anger for what it is, |
| destructive behavior, can be directly traced back | | | | realize when it is appearing and notice the |
| to the effects of anger, particularly the hidden | | | | devastation it creates. Then we have an |
| kind. It has also been well documented that anger | | | | opportunity to root out this underground stream |
| strongly affects physical health and is directly | | | | feeds our misery, and the misery we cause |
| related to heart attacks, blood pressure, back pain | | | | others. When anger is allowed to remain |
| and many other physical disorders. This is called | | | | camouflaged it holds us in its grip and easily |
| symptom substitution. | | | | erodes the entire quality of our lives. |
| We also turn our anger against ourselves in other | | | | What To Do: |
| ways. We become depressed or experience | | | | Just as we work out daily in the gym to |
| mood disorders, hopelessness, passive aggressive | | | | strengthen muscles and attain flexibility, it is |
| behavior, promiscuity, domestic abuse and many | | | | necessary to work out and strengthen the parts |
| other forms of general misery. Sometimes anger | | | | of ourselves that can recognize and release anger |
| converts itself into obsessive-compulsive disorders | | | | easily. We must learn to give up the various |
| and individuals become unable to make decisions | | | | forms of anger and replace them with a healthy |
| or choices about their lives. | | | | antidote. Some healthy antidotes to anger include: |
| Anger is ruthless in the course it takes, attacking | | | | letting go of blame, forgiveness, generosity, |
| and disrupting our body, minds and spirits. As | | | | seeing the best in others, letting the other be |
| school and workplace shootings rise, the divorce | | | | right, (just for today), giving others the benefit of |
| rate climbs, people are on increasing | | | | the doubt. |
| anti-depressants. Many are increasingly unable to | | | | Choose one antidote and work with it for an |
| deal with the stress of 9-11 and an everyday | | | | entire day. Then choose another. You will begin to |
| terrorist threat. It is clear that anger is a societal | | | | feel so good, you won't want to go back to the |
| problem, which is only growing worse. It is time | | | | old ways. As we daily eliminate the toxicity anger |
| we paid attention to the #1 terrorist we face: the | | | | provides to our systems, not only will the results |
| anger we live with every day. | | | | be reflected in our mental and emotional |
| At the present time many of individuals in our | | | | well-being, but in our environment and physical |
| society are dependent upon medication of all | | | | health as well. Eventually it will become impossible |
| kinds. Anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs, weight | | | | for anger to maintain the hold it once had upon |
| loss supplements, low blood pressure medication, | | | | them. |
| blood thinners and anti-bionics of many kinds are | | | | All teachings encourage us to be forgiving, but |
| taken to ease the many symptoms of | | | | there is little actual instruction on how to |
| unhappiness, unbalance and disease we suffer | | | | accomplish this. Each of the antidotes listed above |
| from. On the face of it the symptoms seem to | | | | will help you along the way. Anger is the great |
| differ from one another. If we look a little deeper, | | | | impediment to forgiveness. When anger is rooted |
| however, we can see that beneath the various | | | | out, love and forgiveness arise naturally. Our lives |
| forms of distress that appear, anger is quietly | | | | and the lives of those around us then become |
| smoldering. | | | | hallowed and become all they are meant to be. |