Why are we so angry

Yesterday my day started off so well. I had a vigorous workout gaining inspiration and encouragement from my favorite gym-buddy. Later I ate lunch with two men who provided me with stimulating conversation, not too mention many laughs. I wrote for awhile, I went grocery shopping and I downloaded some new music. Talk about being happy. Then I turned on the TV to see the headline "At least 12 killed in shooting at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas". My heart sank. Although all the details were not known at that time, two army personnel are presumably responsible. What made them so angry that they had to shoot innocent people?

I then turned to the local news to see that a Niagara Falls high school boy raped a classmate that day. Rape is a crime of anger not passion. Sever anger again. The day is plummeting.

Now I am thinking about it. THese two horrific events are terrible but what about the daily anger. Notice the attitude of people lately. Remember the town hall meetings to discuss health care reform? Citizens yelling and accusing and filled with hatred. Where is all this anger coming from? I understand the economy is bad, but we've been through rough financial times. I understand we are passionate about our health care but we do not need to be belligerent and evil. That is not an adult dialogue.

Even little things like the lovely hand gesture from a fellow driver when you failed to yield. Or the attitude from the sales clerk when you typed in the wrong debit card pin numbers. A couple of days ago, I even had a certain sports coach hang up on me because I couldn't make a tournament.

I thought I should research the orgin of anger. There is so much information on this topic that I could write a book (not enough time, energy or talent for that). The main point i found from this information is that anger results from how people view a situation or predicament. If that is true, it sounds simple enough to fix. Change the way people view their situation. Give us the tools to take a step back and view what is happening or has happened to us in the best light possible. Is that really so insurmountable?

Interesting that there is so much anger now when you think about the media lately. Would we be less angry if we focused on the fact that we have not had another sever terrorist attack instead of focusing on our vulnerability? Would we be less angry if we focused on the positive efforts our new president has made instead of rebuking his Nobel prize? How about focusing on the improvements in the economy instead of telling the unemployed that we are all better now? I am not saying to ignore the numerous issues we have, I am saying focus on the positive with the need to improve instead of focusing on the negative with the need to blame.

I am not above the occasional outburst and find that some letting off of steam (in a controlled balanced environment) is good. I have been know to throw the occasional pencil, bite off the head of the pompous clerk and even hand gesture a fellow driver. But today I am going to change my view of my situation. I will start with baby steps, putting on my rose colored glasses for a few more minutes a day. I will hear the news story and look for something to hang onto - some glimmer of hope. This will either make me less angry or send me to the looney bin, but I'll let you know. If it works, even just a little, we can move on to save the world.