Anger will set you free
Anger. What thoughts and feelings does that word elicit in you? Growing up I was taught that anger was not good and most certainly not productive. It was sinful. I needed to let go and let God. Anger was an emotion that was unholy. It was destructive. Dangerous. Not to be felt and most certainly not to be acted on.
As an adult woman I decided to leave the confines of the church I was apart of. More notably, I decided to leave the ideals of organized religion completely. So it wasn’t surprising that I found myself apart of a “New Age” group. The feel good ideals were just what I was after. The idea that I could manifest the life that I wanted by simply imagining it was incredibly appealing. It was magic! *insert laughing here* Along with the feel good ideas of creating the life I wanted came the belief that my thoughts became my reality. I found this idea to be completely fascinating. As fascinating at it was, it was equally terrifying.
Unresolved anger had been apart of my daily life for years. My anger was unfelt. My wounds unhealed. The trauma just sitting in my body. So the idea that my thoughts and feelings became my reality scared the shit out of me. Once again I found myself shoving the anger down deeper. I did this with the aide of positive affirmations, crystals, self help books and guided meditations. PLEASE do not misunderstand me when I tell you that I still use affirmations. I still carry crystals. I still read books that better my life. And I still meditate. There is nothing wrong with any of these practices. In fact, they are vital to my personal well being. I also still believe and hold tight to the truth that we DO have the personal power to create the life that we want. Any time. Any place. There was a very important key that I needed to obtain to access this portal of possibility. A life of freedom. An abundant life.
As the years progressed and my collection of crystals and oils grew, my body started sending off serious alarms. My old friends anxiety and panic disorder came back for a visit. I didn’t understand. I was doing all the things and working so hard to create the life I wanted. I was devastated. I was frustrated. And I was ANGRY. The mother of my heart watched me struggle and suggested I get in touch with an energy worker that specialized in generational trauma. A lot happened to get to this decision of getting outside help. That’s a different story for a different day. 🙂
As I started to work with this angel I realized that trauma is passed down through each generation like diabetes or high blood pressure. It made so much sense to me. The trauma I experienced at the hand of my mother and father was trauma that they inherited. I realized that their parents carried this same trauma and loved my parents from their own wounds. This only created more wounds and more trauma. This cycle has been perpetuated for years. This was such a freeing concept to me.
As the weeks progressed and I went deeper within to excavate this trauma I became angry. Viscerally full of rage. This rage was something I had never experienced. Here I was working through my trauma, choosing to face the darkest parts of myself, doing what these people CHOSE not to face. This left me angry. So I got angry. I got fucking angry. With this recognition the rage permeated every part of me. I was wild. Untamed. Feral. I was a lion and the allowance opened the cage door. I ferociously went in search of the younger versions of myself. Once I found them I stood in front of them, protecting them. For the first time ever. I was like a rabid animal in a corner. Seething, foaming at the mouth just waiting to pounce on the first person to threaten the safety of my inner children. I spoke with them, ensured their safety and vowed to never allow anyone to hurt them ever again. I promised to continue on the path of healing. For me and for them. To free them from their own cages.
Once the anger was freed I realized something that rocked me to my core and challenged all of the beliefs that I had carried to this point. Anger was the key to free me from the bondage that I felt for so long. It wasn’t positive thinking. It wasn’t vision boards or affirmations. It wasn’t even forgiveness for the terrible things that happened to me. I had forgiven my parents. I had actually done that work. I could accept and even understand why they couldn’t love me well. Forgiveness and anger are two very separate things. Forgiving our offender does not free us. Let me repeat that. Forgiveness does NOT free us. Forgiveness is the catalyst for healing. It allows us the freedom to heal. Anger is what we NEED to actually heal. Anger validates. Anger frees us to feel. All of it. Our trauma is real and our wounds are deep. They are open and oozing. They are infected with fear, feelings of unworthiness, and shame. Anger is the salve needed to heal these wounds. We have to allow the anger to cover these wounds. We must allow the rage to take us to the darkest places in our minds. When you allow the darkness your Spirit will meet you there. You will then realize that your Spirit was always stronger than all the anger, horrible thoughts, and darkness. With this recognition you will be met with one simple and very profound truth: anger IS productive. It IS holy. It IS sacred. Don’t let go. Hold tight to that anger. I realized anger was destructive. But not in the way I was raised to believe. Anger, with it’s holy and purifying flames, burnt. it. all. I rose from the ashes. Renewed. Healed. The only thing dangerous about anger is not allowing it.
I will spend the rest of my days foraging through trauma of some kind. And so will you. We are human. There is no rush when it comes to your healing. Just allowance. This is what we are here for after all. To feel and to heal. Trust your anger. She’s holy. Listen to her cues. She is your guide. And once you heal? You will truly manifest the life that you desire and are so worthy of. And to think that ANGER was the key. Who would of thought?
When turmoil hits I often think of that proverbial puzzle. You know, the one we liken our lives to once we have it all figured out, once all the pieces fit together leaving us with a picturesque view of the ocean or a snow laden mountain top. So what happens when life happens? When our life is blown into smithereens right before our very eyes? Our once perfect picture is stained and unrecognizable. We don’t know where to begin. We try frantically to create a new picture. To find new pieces to fit together to give us the same sense of security and hope we once felt. We see the pieces that once were and we shutter. They are ugly. They are painful. They are grotesque. They are dark. They are hopeless. They offer nothing to us. Except the painful reminder that life will never be the same. No, those pieces will never be what they once were. So we begin to move through the rubble of our lives and attempt to re create. To reinvent. To reestablish. But can we? Can we actually piece back together something that is irrevocably damaged? Can we recreate it to be exactly what it once was? No. Our lives will never be the same. We will never be the same. So what do we do? We start over. We take a step back and survey the wreckage before us. The shattered remains. We realize that the puzzle will never again look as charming and delightful as it once did. We begin working. We begrudgingly grab the remains and wonder to ourselves how pieces so small and so ugly could actually create something worthwhile. Something whole. As we move and work we notice that the puzzle we are creating is coming together. Piece by piece we are creating something new. Something abstract. Something different than we have ever known or seen before. We step back and admire our work. And that is when we get it. We understand. We acknowledge that our work was created from the rubble. And it is with this recognition that we see. We see our new reality. And we are full of gratitude. Why? Because we know that our beautiful, abstract puzzle is whole. And we have an even deeper knowing that our ruin and destruction is what created this beautiful masterpiece. We understand that if our life had never crumbled beneath us we would not have been able to create such a piece of art. I think that is the answer to life’s biggest puzzle. Finding beauty in the ashes. Choosing to see that the heartache we endured was meant for our highest good. Choosing each day to wake up and to continue trusting and having faith. Understanding that life was never meant to stay the same. Change is bound to come. Some change gently arrives and then other times, it violently crashes into us swallowing us whole into the waves of grief and loss. During tumultuous moments we need to remember that they are just that. Moments. Sure they can last years, but when the shift happens and our hearts have expanded we will sit down with a cup of coffee and take a deep breath. And with that out breath comes the acknowledgment that we survived. We made it. We are renewed. We are whole. We are changed. We are grateful. And we laugh. A hearty, full laugh. Why? Because we had the audacity to question our strength.
mandy cate 