Talking about viruses – and no, I don’t mean coronaviruses

Have I ever been furious with someone? You bet!

Why?

Well, let’s roll the camera backwards …. just for funsies.

Let’s say, I am moody because John made fun of me. John, on the other hand, was bad-tempered because his mother had brushed him off earlier. The mother explains her upset, saying her husband had cut her short when he came home from work. The husband says he was a bit thin-skinned because his boss had patronized him. And the boss justifies his annoyance because … wait for it! … I had snapped at him when he accidentally bumped into me in the subway that morning!

See what happened here?! My own behavior had caught up to me!

Realistically it doesn’t matter why someone gets angry and acts out on it. Because, as this full-circle story shows, even though we all come up with a reason to justify our own behavior, it all starts – and ends – with us.

Anger is like a virus. It is infectious. It tends to get passed on from one to the next. It also seems to cause the same symptoms: Headaches, shortness of breath, nausea, sweating, increased heart rate. But what if the buck stops with me? What if I don’t want to be at the mercy of someone else’s state of mind? If I had a choice, would I take the flu home with me? Of course not! So why would I let myself get infected with someone else’s anger? Why don’t I just let them keep it? Better yet, how about I refrain from starting a new cycle when, for instance, someone accidentally bumps into me?

Yeah. I think that’s what I’m gonna do. I’ll try to stop as many anger epidemics as possible!

Aye yai yai … Wish me luck!

Brigitte Schneider
aka Ms. Gandhi

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