Let’s face it, no matter how mature we get or the number of experiences under our belt, we still have our anger episodes when someone just rubs us the wrong way, and we can’t hold it back. It’s only natural to feel that way. Nobody likes being pushed beyond the point of no return and trying to keep a straight face. However, even if it’s in our nature, we must do our best to control it.
Sure, you could argue that there’s merit to letting off some steam and that it’s much worse to bottle everything inside, but there are also more civil and sensible ways of projecting your anger than screaming at the top of your lungs. But, before we can learn some unique methods to implement in our lives, we must begin by isolating the roots. We need to find out the source of all this fuming rage!
Why Do We Get “Extremely” Angry?
Now, the reason can vary from person to person. It could be something very personal, something stepping on your beliefs, a political standpoint, or maybe just an insensitive and rude joke you won’t tolerate — it’s different for everybody. However, there are two repeating variables that tend to pop up when your emotions start climbing anger mountain:
- Something Or Someone Ticked You Off: From complete strangers, loved ones to our closest friends, nobody’s exempt from doing or saying something that ticked you off either by accident or intentional. Overstepping one’s boundaries and not being able to read the room are always precursors to any sudden outbreak of anger.
- You Were Already At Breaking Point: Sometimes, stress and anger can accumulate over time, and when someone just happens to push you over the edge when you’re at your breaking point, you just end up exploding like a bomb full of anger. Now, the thing that pushes you past the breaking point doesn’t have to be a huge problem. It just needs to nudge you across that 100% threshold.
But, It’s Not Impossible To Control
However, despite the challenges and extreme nature of anger, it’s not something you can’t control. With a bit of practice and being fully aware of your emotions, you can quickly descend from an anger mountain before an avalanche starts to crash. Of course, don’t expect to learn these anger management techniques by magic. You’ll need to put in some effort too.
#1 Bust Out The Push-ups
Ah yes, nothing shuts anger down faster than keeping your body on the move and tiring it out before it can even explode. Instead of exploding in an uncontrollable rage, you burst into full-training mode via push-ups. Before you even have the strength to scream at the top of your lungs, you’ll be catching your breath as you do push-ups until failure — a funny yet extremely effective method at de-escalating your anger.
- Redirect That Negative Energy: From a holistic perspective, you’re channeling and redirecting all that negative energy into explosive force expressed through push-ups. Like how an artist can speak of a thousand words through their paintbrush, your mind expels these emotions through the explosive movement in your body. Tiring yourself out and feeling the weight of your body as you push off the floor is reminiscent of grounding yourself, and in this case, literally pushing yourself off the ground.
- A Free Workout: From a physical fitness point of view, if you’re the type that gets angry quite a lot, then you’ll be getting a lot of free workouts while you tap into that unending source of energy known as anger fuel. Eventually, you’ll be doing 50 repetitions without breaking a sweat, and you’ll need to bump up the intensity to get the same result. Heck, you might even end up looking like Chris Hemsworth’s stunt double after a couple of months!
#2 Remove Yourself From The Situation
No point in staying somewhere will just feed your anger, so we strongly recommend removing yourself from the situation before you end up forcing everyone else to leave. While some people might consider this as “running away,” pay them no mind because getting yourself out of a toxic and unproductive space is only natural. Plus, staying there wouldn’t have helped you or the people around you.
- Find A Comfort Place: We all have our unique comfort places, whether it’s something simple like ten deep breaths or maybe a quick trip to Fact City to keep your mind occupied on more positive things; use these comfort places to your advantage. Yes, uncomfortable situations help you grow, but discomfort born from negativity will only cause regress.
#3 Write It All Down And Let Your Brain Go Wild
Finally, if you have access to a pen and piece of paper, it always helps to write everything you’re feeling and allow your brain to go wild. Many people end up saying things they don’t actually mean, and not everyone has the capacity to effectively internalize their thoughts. By writing it all down, you can gather your thoughts in the process and leave out all the nasty stuff that doesn’t resolve anything.
Emotional Self-Regulation Is Important.
Letting out your anger is good, but overindulging in that freedom can also have negative impacts. So, take these simple methods with you and learn the importance of emotional self-regulation. In doing so, you’ll have a much easier time communicating your ideas and understanding everyone’s point of view.
