Everyone gets angry or sometimes has anger lingering in them. For a young person it may be having a toy taken away from them by another child. It may be not getting their way or what they want at that very moment. As we get older though we may be angered because of being lied too or we may be frustrated, feeling guilty or it may be due to a fear that we have.
I will tell you my own example. My father died when I was 13 years old. I did not even realize it – but it made me angry that he had left me alone at that time. That feeling followed me for a very long time and it was not till I was close to 30 years old that I realized that my anger about that unfortunate circumstance was having an affect on other parts of my life.
How we feel anger can be different too. It may be that we frown, clench our teeth, wrinkle our brow, feel it in our stomach, head or throat. Some may react by clinching their fist, crossing their arms, stomping their feet or screaming mean words. Others may just become very quiet and internalize their feelings. So as we begin to discuss anger management we recognize that it is about how we handle anger in a safe, fair and positive way. Of course it is OK to be angry, but its not OK to just someone with our words or physically because we are angry.