One of the first things I explain to my audiences about anger is that it is not something inherently evil. This comment does not go down well with people who’ve been raised to believe that anger is something bad, that you must not display it in public, and so on. But it’s true: anger is ‘just’ a powerful human emotion which arises when we feel threatened in some way. And it doesn’t appear alone. When we are threatened, both fear and anger result, and they are there to protect us. Take away anger and all we are left with in the face of threat is fear, which is unlikely to help us deal with the threat successfully.

So again, anger is not inherently bad: it only turns bad if we let it out at the wrong time, in the wrong place, and in the wrong way, OR – if we don’t let it out at all.

Over the past two decades, I’ve learned that anger can be channelled into high productivity. It is a huge source of energy, and that energy can be used constructively. The decision is ours – yours and mine. Do we just let it out, and face the collateral damage afterwards? Do we sit on it, and let it threaten our health? Do we channel it into something creatively covert like revenge? Or do we make friends with it and use it to fuel our most cherished dreams?

I’ve been working on the latter option for some years now, and I can tell you truly: this is possible for anyone who is prepared to think about and work on this. And the first step towards channelling anger into constructive energy and productivity will be the subject of my next contribution to this blog. By the way, we’ll be talking about anger for a while here, so do let me know if you have questions or comments as we go through our journey towards making friends with anger.