A lot of times, we are told not to get angry, or people show surprise at our display of anger, insinuating that we have no right to get angry. I strongly disagree with that. In fact, I believe that it is our God-given right to get angry.
My friend
I have an old friend who I love so much. She apparently tries to live right, not hurt people, pick her words carefully and be at peace with everyone. She works on not getting angry and what this invariably means is that many people, too many people, get away with a lot of things with her. They wrong her, she tries to convince herself not to get angry and then she swallows the annoying situation.
Contrary to what you might be thinking, she is not a pushover. She has some strong opinions which she makes known when necessary. This refusal to get angry, however, has made her stay in situations where she should have long left.
She gets insulted, abused, disrespected by people who have no right to, and she takes it all in. She makes comfort zones of crazy places and people, and she is nowhere near where I know that she can be.
Sad, isn't it?
There's good news: she is waking up. She still takes some nonsense, but less than she used to. She is slowly growing her ability to get angry because that is the root cause of her problems: she rarely gets angry.
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The need for anger
If you have ever spoken or dealt with people who are continually abused, mistreated, or maltreated, you'd realize that one thing the psychopaths try to do is make their victims think that they deserve the wrong they are served. They make them believe the falsehood that they are where they should be, in that toxic and damaging condition. This programming is necessary to keep the oppressor-victim relationship because you first need to know that you deserve better for you to push to get out of the bad situation.
Anger is a sign that you are not okay with the current happening. Anger is a sign that you are aware of the fact that you were or are being wronged. Anger is recognition of wrongness, somewhere or somehow. Anger is a display of discomfort.
The absence of anger makes many things go wrong. The absence of anger is many times the actual cause of nonchalance or brokenness. It shows that there has not been a grasp of the real situation.
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Why we should all get angry
If you want to effect any change, you need to be angry with the status quo. You need to find it unacceptable and the only way to show that is to get angry. You need to get mad at the current situation if you want to see something better.
If you are abused or mistreated, you need to get angry and hold on to it, use it as a propeller to get out of that circumstance. You have to get angry at how you have been reduced and do something to get back to your level of dignity.
Well-directed anger builds change. Look back, down through the ages, you will find that those whose names are mentioned as heroes were angry at some uncomfortable conditions and made moves to make a change. They worked to change things into what they believed should be. It starts from the anger.
However, we know how blinding anger can be.
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What to do with the anger
The first thing to keep in view is the need to make things better. Always aim to make things better. Always.
Anger is a powerful force that effects change, and so if it is not rightly directed, we would make a negative change and lose out. Yes, we might not be where we were in the first place, but we would be worse off. We don't want that.
The world is angry at many situations and rightly so, but let those angry use it to gain back their respect and right the wrong. The most effective change sparked by anger always starts within. It begins in the mindset; it starts with a recognition of what needs to be done to stand tall.
When you aim to restore your lost dignity, you will avoid the actions which are not signifying.
If your anger is not directed at dignifying God, yourself or others, watch it. Dignity is rarely loud; it is precise, direct and emphatic, but not loud. Anger should find you taking the necessary steps you can to make the change. Anger should make you, first, reject the current situation, next, figure out how to get out of that bad place, and thirdly, help you get out of that situation.
My friend, again
My friend is slowly getting angry and losing some friends, but she is also gaining herself and chasing goals. Her initial refusal to get angry left her without goals because she had no reason to fight for better.
Living is warring, and you can't go to war without anger at what you are fighting against. She is living, she is getting better, she is staying angry.
Anger helps you speak out and speak up.
Anger helps you leave levels of mediocrity for heights of greatness.
Anger makes you reject what is not acceptable for yourself and others.
Get angry. Get very angry.
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