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How to Stop Being Angry
Advice from a famous Buddhist.
World-renowned Buddhist, Thich Nhat Hanh, became famous for his teachings on mindfulness. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by none other than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
And he has terrific advice for dealing with anger.
As someone who has struggled with anger problems for much of my life, I realized most advice about dealing with anger boils down to “don’t be angry.”
We’re supposed to convince ourselves that whatever upset us is actually not that big of a deal. And to simply get over it as quickly as possible.
There are mantras like “if it won’t matter in 5 years, don’t be upset for more than 5 minutes.” There are philosophies like “you can’t control the situation, but you can control your response.”
But nothing really helped me deal with anger as effectively as this advice from Thich Nhat Hanh.
The key is to recognize, accept, and embrace your anger. Don’t deny it. Don’t feel guilty for feeling it. Attend to it, and from there you can shorten the cycle each time it occurs. And, eventually, the feelings of anger will wash over you for a mere moment and you can avoid de-railing your entire day.
