Trying to eradicate anger is like trying to box with our own shadow: It doesn't work. Getting rid of it implies either expressing it and creating untold emotional damage, denying its existence, or repressing it until it erupts at a later time.

Like an addiction to drugs or alcohol, food addicts will struggle to simply stop their addictive behavior, even when the behavior leads to weight gain, or damages relationships.

Feeling angry can be beneficial to a person with cancer. It provides a means to vent and let off steam. After all, if anyone deserves to feel angry, it's someone with cancer. I believe it's even essential to feel anger in order to "process cancer" -- just not all the time.

Somewhere, when it comes to ourselves, we are refusing to employ our intelligence. I am not telling you, "Don't get angry." It is up to you. If it is a pleasant experience, get angry all the time. But generally, whenever you get angry, you suffer more than your victim.

Obviously all emotional reactions can't be eliminated by a mantra -- nor would we want them to be, but my informal experiment from years ago taught me that anger, though it may feel unavoidable at times, just might be avoidable far more often than we think.

I follow many resolutions meant to keep me from boiling over in this way. I'm doing better (I think). But still, many times each week, I act in this way.

We often harm others when we act out of anger, but we always harm ourselves. Suppressing anger can cause psychological problems, but eliminating the causes of anger always results in psychological and spiritual health.

The more I pondered the question, the more I realized that the way out of my complaints and into a more fulfilling experience involved me doing something about the condition.