“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.” ― Mark Twain
All my life I’ve lived with anger.
I used to count it as my ‘friend’ — that’s not quite the picture I would wish to paint, but certainly it was something that I thought fuelled my greatest deeds (“I’ll bloody show them”).
I wish I could tell you that through self-enquiry, contemplation or mindfulness, I’ve cured my demons but that’s not the case. At best, I’m able to reflect on my behaviour and move forward very slowly towards equanimity. (Trust me, this is easier to write than it is to live!)
I’m not going to invite you to do anything other than to say if someone asked me now what enlightenment meant beyond becoming the truest version of you, I would say that inner peace is far more important than setting and achieving goals, on any level. And when I say inner peace, I’m not referring to some trance-like state but to be at peace with how things are in my life and the world around me.
If I’m honest, I wish I could find a way to conquer my anger once and for all. In that way the world would be a better place — for me and everyone else. But I know it’s something that will be with me for a long time to come.
Perhaps this is why I continue to go deeper and deeper in my journey within because only then do I stand the remotest chance of becoming who I was always meant to be (see Man’s Search for Himself by Rollo May).