The School of Life published a video which suggests that angry people are often just thwarted optimists. Well, at the risk of thwarting the School of Life’s optimism, I don’t think so.

Oh, I see where they are coming from, and anger is certainly more likely to be the result when reality doesn’t match up to how we feel it SHOULD.

I think that anger is an energy in the body. Some have more of it, and some have less, but we all have some. There is no way that we can ignore our anger energy for ever, or the body starts looking for targets (consciously or unconsciously) who are passing by and don’t meet our standards in some way. Fits of anger all look pretty silly when things have calmed down.

A better way of dealing with anger is to use the energy constructively. Perhaps use it while  advocating a cause we believe in passionately, or maybe in some creative music, writing or art. In the short term, I coach my clients in techniques for venting the anger that is being troublesome in a harmless way, while they look for a satisfying project in which to pour this vital energy.

In this way they can live their lives more productively and contentedly, and have the opportunity to live life with real optimism.

Link to Video on the School of Life’s site.