Anger Management

I wanted to post this up a couple of weeks ago but never really found the chance to. Anyway, its just a short story I got from some circulating emails which I'm sure some of you may have read before. I can't really remember the whole story so I made up the names and summed up the story a bit.


David and Sharon have been happily married to each other for 10 years. They have a 6 year old son, Micheal. David works a regular 9-5 office job while Sharon is a part-time housewife. She would work in the mornings and pick up Micheal from the day-care centre in the afternoons. One particular afternoon, Sharon was having a terrible migraine after picking up Micheal. She put Micheal in bed for his afternoon nap before consuming some painkillers from the medicine cabinet. Soon after, she went to bed to rest. Unfortunately, Micheal woke up from his nap earlier than usualy and was wondering about the house. He saw that the medicine cabinet was open and proceeded to satisfy his curiousity. Opening bottles of pills, he thought the colourful capsules and tablets were candy and started popping them into his mouth....

A few hours later, Sharon woke up and went to check on Micheal. She found little Micheal lying on the couch and frothing at the mouth. Realising that her child had swallowed a huge amount of medication, she rushed Micheal to the nearest hospital. David was informed of the incident by the hospital and he rushed off from work. When he got to the hospital, he saw Sharon sobbing uncontrollably. A doctor approached David and told him that they couldn't save Micheal.

Knowing that Sharon had indirectly caused Micheal's death, he sat down beside her and took a deep breath. Most of you would expect David to blame Sharon for the death of their only child but he didn't do that. Instead, he put his arm around Sharon, comforted and consoled her.
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That's where the story ends. The point to note here is David did not show any anger towards Sharon. He knew that she too had lost her only child. He knew that she is already blaming herself. And he knew that being angry wouldn't bring Micheal back. Some people might disagree with his reaction. Someone told me its better to let the anger flow out than to keep it pent up inside. I totally agree that anger shouldn't be caged up. However, if we just take a step back and understand how the other party feel, we'd realise that there isn't a reason for anger to exist in the first place. Why do we even want to show wrath to people we love? Since when would that solve anything or make things better? Instead, we only hurt them more. I realised this from the first time I read the email and decided to keep my temper in check whenever I can.

Just the other night, I was having a great time with my significant other. Halfway through dinner, something happened and I got angry about it. I stormed into the washroom immediately to try to calm myself down. When I came back, she knew something was wrong and asked me about it. Still feeling a little pissed, I told her in the most restrained manner as I could. After telling her and getting her apology, I managed to drop the issue completely. It may have been a small matter to begin with but it could have ruined an otherwise perfect night out. There is no point in both of us being upset when it could have been resolved in the 'civilised' manner.

So next time you feel like blowing your top, take a breather first. There is no need to bare your fangs to the person you love.