Do you put too much pressure on yourself? Do you commit, even if only in your mind, to do more than you can finish?
If you answered “yes,” then you are often frustrated, overwhelmed, and disappointed in yourself. Given the hectic lives of many people who juggle family, personal needs, and work, it is not surprising that many people are short on time, and as a result, they become highly stressed.
We all need a balance in life that includes family, work, recreation, relaxation, and plain old rest. Doing nothing is sometimes the most important thing to do!
The point is this: When life is imbalanced, stress will build up, and then anger is expressed. This is sad. Often, the hectic schedule, effort, and self-sacrifice are with the noble intent to benefit loved ones. However, the result of all the effort is tension, anger, and emotional pain. Thus, all the ‘noble efforts’ bear little or even no fruit at all!
Some specific stressors that can contribute to anger are:
- Lack of time
- Lack of sleep
- Lack of sunlight
- Hunger (not eating regular meals or the wrong type of meals)
- Financial pressure
- Lack of downtime
- Being depressed
- Too much responsibility
- Relationship disharmony
- Lack of exercise
- Poor health
- Side effects of medication
- Poor parenting skills for those of you who have young children
Regardless, you need to take 100% responsibility for staying calm, even when you feel like getting angry. Yet certain conditions make staying calm and anger-free more challenging. An imbalanced life that naturally contains large amounts of stress is just such a situation.
Manage your overall level of stress. Then staying calm in all situations will be proportionally easier. When you are relaxed, you are more patient, easygoing, kind, and resilient — all good ‘anger-busting’ ingredients.
A full repertoire of anger management skills will help you in every situation.