Litany Against Anger
The map is not the territory,
the word is not the thing.
My anger is not the trigger,
triggers do not become more or less important
as I feel anger wax and wane.
Emotions are motivation,
they’re supposed to get me to do the right thing.
Defuse from my frustration,
breathe and wait for clarity calm will bring.
Unlike the thing the litany of gendlin addresses, anger is sometimes warranted. I think this calls for a different approach.
Anger is for punishing violations of moral codes. Did the subject of my anger really know my code?
We live in a big world. There are many different moral codes trying to coexist. I don’t know every code. Some of them don’t have names or signifiers. Was the subject of my anger following their own code?
If different codes conflict, that calls for a very sophisticated response.
Possible alternate way to respond to anger.