As I started thinking about this question, I had to laugh. Nothing, really. I giggled because I know all too well about anger these days. Just this morning, my spouse asked me this question! Our country is racially, politically, and culturally divided like never before. I miss my friends. I miss singing at church. I am worried that my elderly father and uncle might die before I see them again. I hate this Sheltering at Home weight around my middle. This is apparently a term used by military leaders to describe the climate of difficult situations and determine the best leadership strategy to move forward.
The acronym VUCA stands for volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. As she points out, we are certainly living in VUCA times! It shows up in the news as domestic violence , child abuse , and workplace disruption.
Sometimes anger is more energizing than the underlying emotions from which it tries to protect us. Soft emotions like sadness and fear can be debilitating. What feelings come up in you when you consider so far?
VUCA—volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity stir up fear, sadness, anxiety, and grief in me. Life as we knew it has changed, and the changes have not been predictable. Each day seems to bring with it new developments and contradictory information. The couples I work with are more irritable, sometimes specifically with each other, sometimes just taking it out on each other. It is a cluster of emotions ranging from annoyance to blinding rage.
If an old hurtful memory is triggered by something in the present, reacting with anger can help us to survive the reoccurrence of the painful event. This can get activated even when the original danger is long gone. A good first step in managing anger is to reduce stress through self-care. I recommend practices like breathwork, meditation, mindfulness , yoga, exercise, or journaling.
