Erasing Anger from Your Mental Whiteboard

Anger is a natural emotion and one that can be difficult to process. When it isn't given the time and space to be adequately expressed, it can lead to chronic resentment—a feeling of disapproval or indignation that builds up over time.

Like a thermometer ranging from hot to cold, with various levels in between, anger may vary from rage to mild resentment. It includes revenge, outrage, indignation, fury, jealousy, vindictiveness, spite, hatred, contempt, wrath, argumentativeness, hostility, sarcasm, impatience, frustration, negativity, aggression, violence, disgust, meanness, rebellion, explosive behavior, agitation, abusiveness, abrasiveness, sullenness, pouting, and stubbornness. Evidence of the numerous variations of anger is well-represented daily in local and national News reports.

When asked to erase your anger, it can cause significant frustration because these feelings are a valued part of your past. Anger may even come up about the idea of erasing your anger. You may feel angry that you are being asked to let go of feelings that, in the past, have been cherished. You may feel:
•          Anger at the fear of loss. 
•          Anger at your feelings in general. 
•          Anger at the feeling that does not relinquish immediately. 

There is a lot of energy in anger. You probably feel energized when you are irritated or angry. This undercurrent of negative emotion can manifest in your life in insidious ways. For many, unrecognized anger reemerges as depression—an expression of inner turmoil resulting from unresolved issues. Depression is often referred to as 'anger turned inward,' where you turn your aggression on yourself instead of dealing with the more uncomfortable external sources of conflict. You can become consumed by guilt and shame for things beyond your control when you should focus on addressing the root cause: those unacknowledged resentments that have been building inside you for so long.

If pushed further into the unconscious, anger can reemerge as a psychosomatic illness. Migraine headaches, arthritis, and hypertension are examples of chronic suppressed anger. Anger and resentment damage the body, emotions, energy flow, and the synchronization of the brain hemispheres. Anger kills the angry person and not the person who is the object of the offense.

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Anger symptoms can often be alleviated as you learn to erase the inner anger written on your whiteboard. Forgiveness can literally heal your heart. 

Many believe that righteous indignation, in the form of moral outrage, is entirely justified. Moral outrage, however, is supported by arrogance and pride. People relish the certainty that they are right and that their challengers are woefully wrong and misguided. They get a cheap sense of gratification from believing they are correct. Still, the price they pay for their chronic anger and resentment is sickness and premature death. In the long run, is the meager gratification of feeling you are right worth the cost?

Martial arts practitioners understand that anger indicates weakness and vulnerability; it is a weapon you are handing to your opponent. The angry person has already lost muscle power and the split-second timing necessary for victory in battle.

Anger binds you. It ties you to your enemy and holds them in your world. It may physically remove someone from your life while attaching you even more closely until you finally fully relinquish the anger and resentment.

The Whiteboard Effect can free you. Instead of collecting and hoarding angry emotions, which are destructive and weakening, the erasing technique frees you from keeping account of the wrongs perpetrated against you. Your time and attention are freed up to see the beauty and the opportunity around you. Anger is binding, not freeing. 

You may find that your anger dissipates with a mere willingness to relinquish it. Willingness is a decision that you make. It is a decision to find a better way, to stop relying on anger, and to advance toward courage and acceptance. Willingness begins the process of relinquishing anger. 

You will remain stuck in a negative pattern until you erase the energy of anger and its inducements of righteous indignation, feeling wronged, and the desire for revenge. 

Your anger may not be constantly directed at the same person who initially angered you. Other people with the same characteristics will appear, which will trigger further anger and resentment. This pattern will continue until you finally resolve your inner angriness. Then, suddenly, people with those characteristics will disappear from your life. 

The Whiteboard Effect will teach you how to erase anger from your mental whiteboard. When anger appears written on your whiteboard, recognize and acknowledge the emotion but ignore the thoughts it creates. Just examine the feeling. Once you've accepted the anger, you can use your dry-eraser to wipe it away and your dry marker to write a positive emotion to replace your anger.
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Erasing anger brings many benefits. You become free to experience emotional comfort and ease, gratitude for the daily opportunities to grow and heal, mutual caring for one another without subtle strings attached, improvement in health, and more life energy. These breakthroughs will allow you to move up to a more effective and effortless state of inner freedom.