Member-only story
Militant Decency: The Art of Channeling Anger Into Action
Why it’s okay to get angry at the world and what to do about it.
Growing up, I had an anger problem, particularly in middle and high school. It was understandable to some degree — I had a mental illness and had no idea what was going on in my head, but I knew that it was terrible. So, I lashed out at pretty much anything.
Thankfully, at the specialty high school I was eventually transferred to, they had an anger management group, where I learned to control my anger and not lash out at people. The lessons stuck in my head quite well, although it wasn’t until later in college that I was able to properly master my anger and not occasionally lash out and punch random inanimate objects.
That said, anger, and controlling my anger, has been an important piece of my life up to this point. I have come to the understanding that anger is a legitimate human emotion that we can and should feel. However, it is how we express that anger that defines it.
I’ve been a big fan of not simply stewing in my anger at things but rather using that anger as a means of action. Whether that’s channeling my anger into creativity or using the anger as a means of action depends on the situation, but the point is to do my best to turn the anger into something.
