How to Control Anger?

Summer is in full swing: We are out-and-about, going places, doing things, “mixing it up” with friends, family, and absolute strangers. Maintaining cooperative spirits while juggling vocations and vacations can be challenging. Navigating summer’s crowded sidewalks without stepping on toes is tough: Avoiding anger and its aftermath can be as nuanced as getting a tan while avoiding the burn.

Getting Hot is Like Catching Cold

Under these warm conditions, it’s easy to get hot-under-the-collar because anger is a contagious condition. Just as we sneeze in attempts to rid ourselves of common colds, irritated people will try to shake-off what’s bothering them through words and actions: This may temporarily relieve the sufferers because they’ve “said their piece” or “gotten it out of their systems.”

“He who cannot put his thoughts on ice should not enter into the heat of dispute.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human

Unfortunately, these actions often have damaging consequences. Anger, like influenza floating in the air, is just as infectious: Those susceptible can “catch” people’s rage and reflect it back or pass it onto others. A group, a crowd, a community – even a nation can quickly and epidemically go emotionally viral due to the furious disposition of just one person.