Guest Column by Lori DiGuardi
The truth about anger isn’t what you think. Yet what many people think about anger is the reason it’s gotten such a bad rap.
Maybe you regard anger as a negative emotion. Or you’ve heard it has a low vibration that prevents spiritual growth. “Better not get angry or else you’ll be one of those people.”
But that’s not helpful.
Do you think about anger rather than allowing yourself to experience it? If you only think about it, heaven on earth will be nowhere to be found. And if any thought gets you angry, that should!
Instead, this healthy emotion can be a healing force in the service of heaven on earth.
What Anger is Not
For starters, let’s be clear what healthy anger is not. It’s not the negative outward reactions that people lump together with anger. It’s not rage, blame, cruelty, hatred, violence, aggression, meanness, or bullying.
Those actions are unconscious behaviors based on judgment, fear, and lack of awareness—behaviors that create the antithesis of heaven on earth. That’s why it’s vital to know what healthy anger is and give yourself permission to experience its truth.
What Anger Is
This natural human expression is energy in motion in the body. It’s a healthy emotion that can motivate you to create change.
Anger also has a biological component. Healthy emotional energy helps living organisms modulate their behavior which has helped our species survive and thrive.
A Fuel that Motivates Change
A teacher once told me, “Lori, not getting angry doesn’t make you a saint; it makes you a doormat.” The road to heaven on earth is not paved with doormats, but the road to hell sure is! If you’re tired of being a doormat, get up off the floor. Anger helps you do that.
Mahatma Gandhi allowed his anger to fuel nonviolence and advocate for others to be the change they wanted to see. Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee used her anger to lead a nonviolent movement of Liberian women that helped end Liberia’s devastating fourteen-year civil war. The anger of U.S. suffragists led to the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote.
When I finally allowed myself to get angry—to really feel my anger—it liberated me from a lifetime of victimhood. My anger shouted, “No!” to dishonorable relationships, “No!” to unnecessary sacrifice, and “No!” to depression. The wisdom of my anger freed me to live life on my own terms and create healthy relationships. This in turn led me to fully love myself without guilt.
The Wisdom of Anger
Again, the truth about anger is not what you think; it’s what you feel and sense and know.
If you’re angry, there’s nothing wrong with you. Anger’s wise purpose is a message that something in your life needs your attention and that can fuel your courage to change it.
Anger is the truth serum that shows you what doesn’t line up with your vision of creating heaven on earth. I encourage you to allow your healthy anger to move you toward a life that works beautifully for you.
Let your anger be a powerful healing force in the service of creating your own heaven on earth.
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About Lori DiGuardi:
Lori DiGuardi’s visionary work is based on the journey of being a powerless child and young woman caught in a cycle of poverty and abuse to becoming an international empowerment leader for over 25 years.
She has earned an MS in leadership, a black belt in karate, and Rotary International’s Service Above Self award. She is a TEDx and professional speaker, spiritual life coach, humanitarian, and author of Anger 101: The Healthy Approach to Being a Bitch.
Lori works with courageous women committed to their personal power, spiritual path, and exceptional growth. She’s on a mission to grant freedom from unconscious limitation.
You can learn about her work at LeadWithPersonalPower.com
She can be reached at: lori@leadwithpersonalpower.com
Martin Rutte
