Save Your Anger

“I sent an email to them, and they have not responded- They don’t care.” My son commented. He seemed very upset.

The father in me understood how my son was feeling, and I told him to be patient. “It’s a long weekend ahead. People may have gone on leave. Surely, they will respond soon.”

But, as I said that, my son continued lamenting- “I sent the query on Instagram, they saw the message, and they didn’t respond.” I could say not say anything more that would make him feel better.

But I certainly got thinking after the conversation.

What my son did was nothing unique and something almost all of us struggle with. 

We complain, get upset at the small stuff, and lose our peace for all the innocuous reasons- Someone said something unkind, didn’t do something, ignored us, or cut a line, etc .

However, putting things in perspective, why should we waste our valuable emotions on the small stuff that adds no value?

Anger can be productive when channeled at the right things-things that genuinely matter. When things don’t go the way we want, anger acts as a catalyst for us to take productive action and do something about it. It powers us with the energy to not give up and to pursue things we value – Life goals, relationships, career, or personal change.

My big takeaway- We should save our anger for the big problems, problems that matter. Please don’t waste it on the small, mundane stuff.