Anger

Do You Ever Come Unglued?

 

 

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

~ James 1: 19, 20

 

 

 

Do I ever come unglued?  I think the better question may be "Is there ever a day when I don't come unglued in some form?"  I teach about sixty different ten year olds for seven hours.  I come home to three roosters of my own and the Colonel who has a Type - A personality which is the total opposite of mine.  (Is that Type - Z?)  My daily "to do" list is often two pages long and divided into two columns:  school and home.  Do I ever come unglued?  Honey, I feel like I stay unglued! 

 

What do I do when I feel the glue start to melt?  I am ashamed to say that I am an exploder.  I erupt like a volcano.  It isn't pretty at all.  When I was younger, I used to throw things.  I did have a tad bit of sense and I always threw whatever at the floor.  I can't remember a time when I hurled anything across a room at a wall.  That does make it a little better, right? 

 

I have come to realized that anger comes from unmet expectations.  Think about it--any time we get angry, it is because something is not going the way we planned for it to go, right?  I come unglued when my list is too long, when the kids are loud, when the kids don't listen, when the kids...Hey, it's all my kids' fault?!!  (Just kidding!!)  I come unglued when I can't get done what I expected to get done.  I come unglued when my expectations are not being met according to my plan. (Hmm.  I am also noticing a lot of "I" in that paragraph.) 

 

How do I control my anger?  Sometimes, many times, I simply do not.  I just erupt.  Again, it is not pretty.  It is an adult tantrum plain and simple.  It is just as ugly as a two-year old's fit.  Probably more so because I am an adult having a fit.  Not pretty.  However, there are times when the She-Hulk can be contained.  I talk to God out loud.  I take deep-relaxing breaths--about twenty-five or so.  (Ten wouldn't touch it for me)  I try to imagine Jesus actually in the room or car with me because after all HE IS THERE!!  I guess what I'm trying to say is that I try to focus on His Presence.  Sharing my feelings with someone definitely helps.  It gets it out there and is a release for me.  Trying to find time to just be alone and decompress helps a lot.  I am around people all day and there are times when I just need to be alone.  Going to the gym or running used to be a great release for me, but I just can't seem to do either right now.  I have some friends that go into cleaning frenzies.  I have done it a handful of times, but it definitely doesn't help me calm down.  I will say that sitting on my patio with Lady, our Golden Retriever, has helped calm me down.  Lady is so loving and is an excellent listener.   

 

I read a lot of very positive reviews about the book entitled Unglued.  I decided to purchase the Unglued Summer Sanity Package from this website:

Unglued Summer Sanity Package | Proverbs 31 Ministries .  I plan to read it during my summer break. 

 

And finally, let's face it, no one really looks good when they are angry and it causes wrinkles.