I went to a women’s conference once where a workshop was offered on how to deal with anger. At the time, I had been noticing a lot of irritability in my life, so I opted to go to it. I have long forgotten who led it, and lost my notes from it, but I do remember coming away with the knowledge that anger can be a reaction to loss, or to unmet expectations, or to radical amounts of change. All those fit my life at the time; we’d just moved overseas to a developing country, and people around me acted in ways that I did not expect or think were okay. (I know you want an example, so I will just say one word: toilets)
But that was years ago. I’m not an angry person, but there are times… Frankly, today’s heated political environment has been wearing for a news junkie like myself, and I sometimes find myself lashing out. Then, there’s everyone’s nemesis–driving. Why are we so quick to assume the worst about other drivers? I knew I needed help in this area, so I was eager to sit down, so to speak, with Edgar Welch and page through his “small book about a big problem.”
A Small Book about a Big Problem is arranged as 50 short meditations on the topics of anger, patience and peace. Please click through the link to read my full review at 5 Minutes for Mom.