Angry?

ANGRY?

Recently I re-read Vernon Howard’s booklet,  Conquer Harmful Anger: 100 Ways.  It’s loaded with helpful insights into why we all suffer daily.  After reading on the internet of someone’s angry response to a life situation in which this person thought he was  helping himself, I realized that in reality he was hurting himself.  The following  excerpt makes so much more sense.

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41.  The Pearls   You have no right to angry complaints.  You cannot complain over getting cheated, deserted, persecuted or anything else.  You are exactly where you have chosen to be.  If you choose something else, you will be somewhere else.  A man foolishly seeking pearls in the desert has no right to complain of the heat. Stop wandering in the desert of complaint and head for the sea.  Pearls are abundant there.  Walk over and see.

42.  Mental Relief   If you can believe it, people cling to hostile behavior because it gives them something to do with themselves.  They see peace as an emptiness, as a threat to their handy next move.  They actually declare, “Well, since I can’t think of anything else to do I’ll just fall into another rage.  They fear they will not find themselves in tomorrow.  But anyone who endures his emptiness, who refuses to fill it with anger, will one day know the relief of self-release.  Make it you.

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Inner Life Exercise

Do not put your happiness off into the future.  If you are not happy right now, you will never be happy.  Catch yourself in wrong states of mind and then simply give them up.  Don’t ask how, just do it.  The outcome of your efforts?  You will be happy.

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