I was recently on the receiving end of some light anger. It doesn't matter where it came from of course. What's interesting is the concept of anger itself.
Having been born as one of the Star Wars generation, the first thought that comes to mind is Master Yoda's, "Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." (audio). I think that the object of suffering is not clear here -- is it the person who receives anger, or is it the person that expresses anger, that suffers?
It was ten years and three months ago when I got extremely angry at a person. It's an event that I really cannot forget. The object of my frustration was two people -- one was the manager of the person I was upset with, the other the person himself. The manager sat there quietly and listened to my anger. It lasted for no more than three minutes. The manager sat quietly for maybe a minute and a half. Then, he said to me in a calm and measured voice, "Your expression of anger ... belies the qualities ... of a lesser man." I was rendered completely speechless. From that day forward, I've sworn to never express anger at another person.
When receiving someone's anger, you can't help but feel a bit hurt. But then you just have to ask yourself to see it from the other person's point of view. Maybe there's a rational reason for the anger, or maybe there's just good ole' fashioned misunderstanding. In either case, pity is due to the person that expresses anger. In the end, they have lost more than you.
Ten years, two months, and three weeks ago I realized that my anger was unfounded -- that my ill feelings arose from a simple misunderstanding. I've never forgotten how much I lost then, and work every day bit by bit to recover.
Posted by maeda at November 28, 2006 08:06 PM