Girdles, Spanx, and Anger

 In emotions, Life

Here’s a quick exercise for you: take out a sheet of paper and write “I’m Angry Because…” across the top. Did you do that? Okay, good. Now, start to list all the reasons you’re angry. What’s that? You’re not angry about anything? Are you sure? Trust me, this exercise may surprise you. When I decided to try it one day about a year ago, I was shocked by just how long my list turned out to be.

Anger is tricky, because it often hides itself in quiet, dark places of your heart, only to pop out and manifest in the oddest, most inexplicable times and places. Are you raging every time you get behind the wheel? Is your husband getting tired of your random outbursts over every seemingly little thing? Do you have irrational reactions to things that don’t warrant the punch you pack in response? Maybe you’re a little angrier than you think.

Know this, if you bury your anger, it is not “dealt with.” I’ll use an analogy that only women could truly appreciate. You know those lovely body-shaping devices that stores sell that we can wear under our clothes to help “smooth away” our less than, well, smooth places? Yeah, here’s the big problem with those. They don’t actually make the round areas go away. They simply redistribute them…elsewhere. This is how it works with anger. If you’re angry, you may think you’ve buried your feelings far enough down that your existence will be smooth and effortless, but the anger is still there. It’s simply been repressed, and will show up in incontrollable measure at unplanned times. In other words, you can’t get rid of it quite so easy.

Today, after you try my exercise, you may find that you have a lot of anger that has been left truly not dealt with for years. Where do you go from there? Easy. Take it to God. Guess what? You’re not going to surprise Him with your admission of anger. He already knows. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He sees us inside and out. Take your anger to Him so that He can heal you. Take the first step today and acknowledge your anger. You may just find that freedom is waiting for you when you do.

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