The first thing that must be acknowledged is that one way or another you will get angry. Whether it be your child misbehaving in school, hearing a ridiculous rumor about yourself, getting fired from a job, or waking up and accidentally stubbing your toe, you will get angry which is why it is imperative to know how to manage it.
1. Pray.
Trust me, the last thing you want to do is search for relief in a person because 9 times out of 10 they'll tell you something you really don't want to hear and 8 times out of 10, a person is the reason you're angry in the first place. God, however, is infallible and can say not the wrong thing. Your job is to seek him first and be willing to listen!
2. Talk.
Weirdly enough, there are people who are trained and paid to sit on a fluffy cushion and listen to us babble on about the very traumatic things and even not so traumatic things in our lives. So maybe you aren't a talker? They'll sit with you anyway and listen to your loud silence. But try it and see how it works for you.
3. Write.
If there is anything that I've learned, its that bestsellers can very easily come from heartfelt, authentic writing that people can relate to. Write and feel the anger being dragged to the paper directly from your brain and heart. Let it flow into the pages and allow the pages to hold your burdens and keep your secrets. I promise they won't tell.
4. Breathe.
Oxygen is a drug and the symptom that accompanies its withdrawal is death. So, believe me when I say that breathing won't kill you try! Take 10 seconds to take in 10 long breaths and with each breath you breathe out, say one of the things that made you angry. This is more effective than one might think so before you write it off, fail a test then give it a shot.
5. Violence.
Sorry mom, sorry dad, but violence is sometimes the answer. Let me give you some healthy ways to be violent without hurting yourself. Go to a junkyard and "pay the man." Give the man that looks over the junkyard some incentive to allow you to smash a car with a sledge hammer with your closest friends while playing MGK's Wild Boy in the background. If that isn't your type of thing then go to a single cross-fit class, which is usually free for newcomers, and throw some oversized 45 lb weights around while grunting like a pregnant woman trying to stand. If that isn't you either then maybe try a day of paintball with every person from work that you can't stand. squad up with some random military friends you make that day and take your co-workers down.
Bonus: Laugh.
Laugh when you stub your toe; laugh when you get fired; laugh when your girlfriend dumps you, laugh when you're being laughed at; laugh when it hurts; laugh when you're sore; laugh when you lose friends and laugh when laughing seems like the absolute last thing you should be doing.
Laugh not because it's funny but because life is seriously way too short to be spent in anger. Laugh not because it's funny but because to everyone in this world at some point they feel like their life is always the struggle. Laugh, and it will get better.
