To mark this time, let me share with you what is happening in my world. The county in my state is still under the shelter at home order that the Governor issued back in late March. It’s now June. The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 100,000 people in America. And last night, more than a dozen states had violent protests due to a copy kneeling on the neck of George Floyd for 8 minutes and 46 seconds until Mr. Floyd died. Peaceful protests have been happening across America, but the last few nights the violence has soared. The videos I’m seeing on Twitter is frightening. We are in the middle of a pandemic still and people are out in the streets with such rage.

I’m thinking about rage today.

I’m seeing the rage play out on video filmed in the streets and then shared on Twitter. We are in a dark time.

Having grown up in an alcoholic and dysfunctional family, I know that violence begets violence. I know the cycle of dysfunction and that alcoholism is a generational disease. The addicted person drinks, and their behaviors directly affect their children. The children grow up to either be alcoholics or exhibit alcoholic behaviors in their relationships. The wheel goes round and round.

As a kid, I had such anger and rage at my father. I blamed him for how he treated my mom and the years of hard times that my brother and I had in growing up as our father didn’t pay child support.

Anger can simmer for a long time and then grow to rage.

I have felt white and unadulterated rage. I’m ashamed to admit that, but unless you admit your feelings and mistakes, I believe that you can’t grow.

Maybe you haven’t felt rage. Maybe you repress inwardly and instead of releasing your anger outwardly, you keep that negative energy inside.

Either outward or inward, such destructive emotion can eat you up inside. And worse, the rage doesn’t only hurt the person you’re directing it toward, but also yourself and everyone who experiences your rage (children, parents, grandparents). And then, the circle repeats itself as your children will learn that expressing rage in an unhealthy way is acceptable and the proper way to handle anger.

How to deal with your rage?

Talk to a therapist. Take the time to find out why you’re angry and how it’s turned to rage and learn skills on how to express your anger in healthy ways. I would also recommend reading the Dance of Anger book.

I would also recommend that you keep a private journal. Write about your feelings, let them out on the page, and then let them go. Anger and rage are contagious and can suck the life of you. How can you take your anger and live past it? What joy and good can you do in the world? If that’s too big of a question to answer now, then here’s another: What good can you do for yourself?

Like what you’ve read? Be sure to check out my other posts in my Let Go and Be Free blog.