What our ancient wisdom says about getting angry...

click here to hear what the Talmud says about anger

Everyone gets angry sometimes, but can anyone around you stay happy when you are angry?  How much harm do we inflict on the people we love when our reaction is out of anger and not love?  Does anyone benefit from your angry words or looks?

I know it's hard.  Anyway, I know it's hard sometimes for me.

I have a friend who is almost always kind.  I have never seen her angry.  She actually told me that once when she was in a bad mood, she told her children, "I need you not to be around me right now.  Not because of you, but because I love you so much, and I wouldn't want anyone, especially me, to treat you unkindly just because they're in a bad mood."  Wow.  How much more loved would my kids feel if I just stopped and remembered her words when I start to feel that frustration and anger start to build?  Stop to say, "Because I love you, I want you to not be around me right now.  You are too precious to me."  Really, I watch her parenting her 10, yes, 10 kids, and know that I have been blessed to have her in my life, as a friend and as a role model.

I wonder how many marriages would not have ended in divorce if everyone learned to speak from their love instead of from their anger and frustration.

I'm just sayin'.......