Thought for the Week

Timothy D. Stein, MFT, CSAT

December 21, 2015

Anger is like picking up a burning ember to throw at someone.  You get burned in the process.

When we are overwhelmed by anger and vent it blindly, we often hurt ourselves (either immediately or later) as much as we hurt those we are angry with.  Learning to recognize and acknowledge our anger as well as explore it with others in our recovery community are important skills.  By allowing others to help us understand our anger and what it is asking us to acknowledge, we can avoid the “burning embers” and instead find options that create solutions instead of pain.

What does it look like when I “pick up burning embers to throw at someone?”  Regardless of how it felt in the moment, what have been the consequences of expressing my anger unfiltered?  What gifts await me if I allow my recovery community to guide me in understanding and expressing my anger?