Happy Sunday all! I hope you all had a decent week and are hanging in there regardless of the craziness that has been this year! I for one am doing my best to keep positive and busy no matter what is going on around me, although I am slacking a bit in other departments. Take the the good where you can get it. With everything going on this year I think today's emotion is one that many of you may have been experiencing this year. Now of course that can also go for sadness. Let's face it this has been an emotional year to say the least. But the emotion I wanted to talk about today is anger.

Now before anyone makes an assumption, I had this next emotion planned out in my head well before any news in American politics came about so this is not directed at anyone that may be angry with the way those results went. I know I am someone who experiences anger myself at times and figured I could channel that to really discuss the emotion and maybe share some ways I cope with it personally. I think a lot of us can experience anger in a wide range of reactions. Sometimes you just get a little angry, but others we unleash a grizzly bear and growl at anyone around us. While I think it is important not to bottle up emotions, that isn't always the best solution. But let's dive into things a bit further.

I personally do get angry and as stereotypical as it is to say a good number of times when I am really annoyed and irrationally reacting to that, hormones' are a playing a big role. I also am a person that gets hangry. Not too long ago I was irrationally irritated my entire drive home from work. Once I ate dinner though I felt much calmer and better. Now of course those are not the only reasons I have been angry before, we have all had legit reasons to be angry. Just ask my sister how I gave her a black eye when we were kids hahaha! I am sure you can think of plenty of times you were angry in the past and just how you reacted to it.

Now the fact that we get angry is not the problem, the way in which we react to that anger is the important part. Look, I am sure we all have had experiences in which we have reacted to anger in the wrong way (case and point giving my sister a black eye) but we can learn and grow from that. My poor mom usually is the victim of my hormonal outbursts. Just yesterday we were shopping for our Thanksgiving turkey and I was growing increasingly frustrated with the crowds (especially during a pandemic) and that we were having no luck finding the right one. That caused me to get a little angry and verbally express mu frustration. I think in all cases identifying the source is important. Hormones can't really be helped in us females unfortunately, but do you possibly just need a snack? Is something at work angering you or is a disagreement with your partner the cause? I think that is one of the most important ways to deal with anger and then you can work on fixing the issue at hand.

Here is this week's poem dedicated to the emotion of anger:

Anger

Dark ominous clouds roll in

wicked winds blow

a storm is brewing.

Suddenly thunder cracks

and lightning lights the sky.

A crack in the dam bursts through

unleashing my anger.

As I mentioned last week I have been using poetry as a tool to cope with my emotions now and I think anger is no different. If you can find any healthy way to deal with these strong emotions then you should most definitely take it. A lot of people have said that exercise helps release that stress and frustration. A more creative approach like poetry as I mentioned or even artwork is another great option as well. Do your best not to take your anger out on the people you love as I have been guilty of doing myself sometimes (I am pretty sure we all have) and find a healthy way of coping with it. Find the source of your anger and work from there.