Do I have an evacuation plan for when I feel anger?

Do I have an evacuation plan for when I feel anger? Wow, when I think about it on that level I begin to realize that learning to navigate life and the multitude of emotions having an evacuation plan is in place is a really great idea. Do you remember when you are in elementary school and you had the safety drills? I thought at the time how exciting is this, I get to go outside and it isn't even recess yet! As an adult I can say I didn't have the same experience. I love how when we are children everything is an adventure. As we experience a new emotion, it is just an adventure. We learn to have hidden beliefs around them based on the experience of those around us. I remember when growing up that ANGER was a very bad thing. We had to hold it inside. It was better for us to explode privately verses allowing the emotion to flow and be complete with it. Many times in life we live our adult lives based on the beliefs from childhood.

I have the privilege of having a friend who rarely gets angry. I love being around their energy as life is just one adventure after another. For what ever reason they did not learn that anger was a bad emotion and is able today to laugh at it and just keep flowing on.

Day 58: Volcanoes, how do I deal with anger and frustration? Do I have an evacuation plan? Do I know how to laugh at myself?

When I think about anger today I enjoy the connection to a volcano erupting. So often in life I have missed the connection to my human experience with that of nature. When I can look, experience, and walk around on an eruption as I have in Hawaii. I began to realize that it can indeed create an environment yet it will take decades for it to be inhabitable.

When I look at things in nature I begin to see the devastation that an eruption can have in my life, and the impact that it has on the lives around me as well. Today with the scientific brilliance that we have, we can detect when a volcano is about to erupt and we can move into evacuation mode. Do I want to move, do I want to go, do I want to survive, or better yet do I want to thrive? Many times in life I am so frustrated about being displaced that I forget that I am alive and can from this now moment build a new life. While the other option is most likely extinction.

I was part of an amazing workshop once in which we learned to laugh for no reason other than laughing. Why? It is a great and powerful tool to have in our toolbox of life. Why? One of the best ways to break the hold of anger in our lives is to start laughing at the situation as if we were watching a comedy on TV. We laugh at the way others look when they are acting out a role of angry, frustrated, and are pouting on television all the time. Why not do it for ourselves? Next time you are angry just start laughing and really laugh with your whole body. Laugh so hard your stomach hurts. Poof the anger is gone.

Out bodies are equipped with emotion so that we can maneuver the landscape of our lives. We are not meant to take up residence in our emotions. They were designed to flow. Who wants to leave paradise? A great deal of our anger comes from the fact we are being evacuated from the emotion of happiness, or joy and we feel angry about it. When in fact our lives are not meant to be frozen in time. They are meant to be lived, expressed, and experienced.

Lean to know the warning signs and have an evacuation plan. I love you! Rev Allen