"Fear leads to anger.
Anger leads to hate.
Hate leads to suffering." - Yoda
Anger leads to hate.
Hate leads to suffering." - Yoda
I read a lot of star wars books as a kid and many of them had this famous quote written on the back. Not that I don't love Yoda, he's one of my favorite little green dudes besides Kermit, but I have to disagree with him here. I mean, yes, this emotional cause/effect line could lead to suffering - especially if you're living out the life story of Anakin Skywalker - but Yoda's writers are missing a big point here. Each of those things on its own leads to suffering. I would say fear and anger have been forms of suffering for me many, many times in my life.
Anxiety issues? Check. Anger problems? Double check. Especially when all that fear turned to anger just like Yoda said it would. Turns out it's pretty common after you've suffered way too much fear and sadness. That type of anger is just like fire. It gets out of control in a split second and suddenly your world is burnt beyond recognition.
You have to be careful. Breathe. Stay ahead of it. So that you don't end up doing something or saying something you'll regret later on. That's just more suffering.
The hulk isn't right. I thought I'd always be angry, but it fades. After all that fear and sadness, the anger was so strong I thought I would always be angry. It still comes up every now and then, but it's nothing like the rage I used to feel.
I wasn't sure I was going to post this, because everyone seems to be afraid to talk about anger. I know I am, because it's hard to look at yourself in that kind of light. Everyone seems to see you as some sort of monster. But the less it's talked about, the more dangerous it is (or feels).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.
