For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson.
It begins as a drop of water: Someone gets your parking place, pulls in front of you on the highway, a waitress is slow and you’re in a hurry, the toast burns. Get enough of these seemingly innocent drops of anger and before you know it you have a bucket full of rage. So, we trust no one, bare our teeth at anyone who gets near. We become walking time bombs that, given the right amount of tension and fear, could explode! Let us not deny it, anger does exist. It is really one letter less than danger. The question is, how do we harness it?
When we lose our temper with others, we are risking causing damage of saying something that could leave the other person with long lasting emotional scars. The next time you get angry, before you react, count to ten, and in that time, remember the compassion that Jesus showed his enemies. Let us not look at the world with bitter frowns but with extended hands. Do not lose your energy on someone else that has made you angry, it is not worth it. James 1:19–20, “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
Luke 23:33–34
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
