Stressed and Angry?

Stress and anger often are interrelated. When a you become very stressed as a result of your job, your kids, your finances, or your whatever, do you also find yourself becoming angry with not only those around you but also with things?

First understanding a little bit about stress will help you control both your stress and your anger. Stress is not always a bad thing. We need some stress in our lives to just get us up in the morning and get us through the day. It is too much of it that causes us to have dis-stress in our lives.

Distress can cause many different kinds of illness as well as anger. Anger is a very negative emotion that actually causes stress in our bodies so it can be like a snowball going down hill picking up size and speed as it progresses.

Anger is usually a reaction to some event over which we have no control-usually that very stressful situation. We tend to replay the event over and over in our minds and that replay causes us to get even angrier. This event can be something that we perceive may happen in the future or something that has already happened in the past.

If you really think about it, can you in anyway change what has already happened in the past? No. Also, worrying about something that may or may not happen in the future will never change the outcome. My husband, after my many explanations, now says, “I am not worrying, I am just planning.” At least when he is thinking about planning, he is not becoming angry about something that may or may not happen. He is not worrying either.

So what is that one essential step that you must take to minimize your stress and reduce your anger? It is living in the now. That means stepping back at your current situation that you are stressed and/or angry about and determining if it is something that you can do anything about right now. Are you angry at that clerk taking your exchange merchandise or are you really just angry because you have had a bad day in general. Are you stressed and becoming angry because your tenant may not pay the rent on the first of the month? But you do not know that for sure do you? Worrying about what may happen can be a huge contributor to your deterioration of health and success and peace.

There are many books and programs for helping you get better at living in the now. Don’t wait too long to take control of your life.