Wrath – easily irritated, lacking sweetness, have little patience to wait.
You may know this better as anger or frustration or impatience.
Do you seek the truth? Or, do you always want to be right? Do you have a control problem? Are you easily irritated? Are you always in a hurry? Do you
- Think slowing down is a silly waste of time?
- Struggle with anger?
- Control your emotions or do your emotions control you?
So here’s the thing, I am quite sure all of us can relate to this. This is typical in our culture. The rat race is alive and well. We over schedule our time and try to accomplish more in this life than we could possibly achieve. We respond inappropriately. This further manifests itself by how we respond.
Identify What Bugs You
Perhaps, the best way to overcome these struggles is to recognize the causes and avoid them. I live in the western suburbs of Washington, DC. Traffic is a nightmare here. I struggle with being too easily irritated when I get in my car and get on Highway 50 from my home to work. My response – take a different route or ride my bicycle. Riding my bike is great except when darkness falls at 4:30 PM.
For Arguments Sake
In my opening I referred to our desire to be right over truth. This is probably rooted in not being heard by our parents or teachers or someone we loved at a very young age. When we have to fight for attention at a young age we tend to carry this over to adulthood. In case you are wondering, this is true about many things. Just about every person on the planet was given instruction by which to live in childhood. This manifests itself by a tiny little voice in our head that tells us today how we are to behave. Modern psychology refers to this voice as the “shadow” or “inner critic” or my favorite the “judge.”
Diving Forces and Restraining Forces
Organizational theory suggests there are driving forces and restraining forces. My favorite metaphor for this is the accelerator (driving force) and brake (restraining force) on a car. Imagine pressing both the accelerator and the brake as hard as you can at the same time. You’ll break something I can assure you! Consequently, the best way for us to go forward is simply to take our foot off the brake. However, our problem is we don’t know we have a brake. It’s that tiny little voice in our heads that keeps us from stepping out of our comfort zone. It’s the one that says, “you can’t do that” or “you aren’t good or smart or fill in the blank enough.” So we don’t confront the situation that we’ve avoided for days, weeks, months or years. We settle for a life less lived!
A Full Life
This I know about living a full life: we will have trouble yet we can find joy. Joy begins with releasing the things of the past to make room for the good things of the future.
1.What irritates you?
2. What are you doing about it?
3. What do you need to avoid?
4. What do you need to release from your past?
5. What do you need to say yes to?
Do you have someone that can help you process these questions? If so, reach out to them soon. A better life waits for you.
About the author: Creed is an accomplished leader and Professional Certified Coach motivated by a passionate drive to help individuals and organizations reclaim their clarity for personal achievement and organizational effectiveness.
