Sometimes in life, we run across people who are just angry and upset with the world and far too often this anger spills out onto us. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do or say to these strangers that would change them or the way they move through the world. I understand how tempting the desire to respond and put them in their place is. Really, I do.
I recently had a conversation with someone who is a part of my community. I reminded them that a request had been made of us to not park in front of a neighboring business during our events. Not a big deal. But the response was pure hatred. The anger had nothing to do with the request, it was all about the owner of the neighboring business. Except I was the one who was being yelled at. I’m not gonna lie, it took effort on my part not to start yelling back.
If you are someone who takes out your anger on random people around you- please find a healthier way of processing your emotions. It might be easy to think that you don’t have an effect on the people you yell at or worse that they deserve it. Except they don’t deserve it and your words do have an effect. I was shaken and upset for a few hours. Our brains and nervous systems process verbal attacks in the same way as a physical attack. If physically assaulting the person you are speaking with isn’t justified then neither is yelling at them. To repeat, please find a better and don’t spread that anger to other people.
When you are on the receiving end of an angry outburst try not to engage. It is tempting but the person in front of you isn’t going to be shown the error of their outburst. They are not going to apologize or be remorseful. The only thing you will succeed in doing is adding fuel to their rage. Stay calm, walk away if you can, and reach into gratitude. Yup, I said gratitude. It’s the best way I have found for deflecting that energy. Thinking about the blessings in our lives distracts from their anger. Even if you are just grateful that you do not have to deal with the pain that the other person is carrying.
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