From Anger to Action

Facing a wave of emotions

What do you feel when you see these pictures? How would you feel if this disaster is happening in your own country?

Over the past few days, I have felt struck by a wave of emotions due to the major oil spill and ecological disaster caused by the shipwrecked cargo vessel M.V Wakashio on the pristine reefs of my homeland - the beautiful tropical island of Mauritius. As the vessel got stuck on the coral reefs of Pointe d’Esny and started to leak oil into the lagoon several days later, my emotions shifted from worry to shock, despair and anger.

I felt like drowning in a sea of emotions - deep hurt, helplessness, frustration and especially anger and resentment about the destructive impact on our ecology and how this disaster could have been averted. I believe many of my friends and compatriots are in the same situation, feeling these powerful emotions taking over. I must confess, it has not been easy as it has taken me a few days to process these powerful emotions and shift to a more composed and resourceful state.

I thought of writing this article reach out to fellow compatriots - going through the same cycle as me – and share how we can shift from anger to meaningful action while letting go of the anger, resentment and unresourceful emotions pulling us down.

Letting go of anger

The Buddhist philosophy advocates - Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die. Holding on to resentment is like holding a burning piece of ember in our hands and expecting someone else to get burnt.

The answer is in neuroscience – I was blown away when I learnt about this fact - our neurological response to anger lasts only 2 seconds! Yes – our body releases epinephrine and other chemicals which cause us to feel the emotion of anger for 2 seconds only. In fact, we feel the effects of anger up to 90 seconds – increased heart beat and blood pressure etc.

This means it takes commitment to stay angry after these 90 seconds! So in effect, we act angry and stay angry by amplifying it through our thoughts and stories, which we keep telling ourselves. Diffusing anger and resentment starts by letting go of the stories in our minds.

Making PEACE with the situation

Here is how I have been able to reframe anger and resentment through 5 simple practical steps which I call making PEACE with the situation. PEACE is an acronym which stands for: Pause – Express – Acknowledge – Choose – Engage:

1. Pause to process – Stop, breathe and reflect – Take a conscious break to process your thoughts and feelings. Stop and take a few deep breaths in order to oxygenate your brain more. Ask yourself: How am I feeling? Is this helping me? What is the impact this is having on me and my entourage?
2. Express how you feel – Externalise how you feel by talking or writing about it – Emotions are energy in motion. Allowing the energy to flow is essential, especially emotions like anger, frustration and resentment. I have found that by writing about my emotions as well as talking and sharing about it with close ones, I feel lighter. For some, it might be getting a good work out and exercising as our emotions move when we move. If you are having difficulty of expressing the anger and resentment – try this: Replay the situation in your mind, but do it from the perspective of a video camera in the corner of the room or the fly on the wall. Limit yourself to spoken words and observable actions. This trick of self-distancing can reduce the feelings of anger and resentment.
3. Acknowledge the moment – Accept the situation – Acknowledge the situation you are in and accept what has happened has happened. You cannot change the past, but you can change your perspective of the past. Having expressed my emotions allow me to feel lighter and better accept the current situation. I find that practicing mindfulness and equanimity (i.e. equipoise) through meditation and breathwork helps. This makes me more response-able, which leads being able to choose the way forward. 
4. Choose with intention – Choose your emotion and focus on your intention – i.e. how you want to feel now. As such, we make our own internal weather chart. This means asking myself: What emotions / feelings will help me now?  I have found that focusing on intention helps a lot to come out of the sea of emotions. One way which helps me is to regularly stay connected to my intention in the following manner – My intention is to be calm, centered and composed in order to provide meaningful support in the current context. – It works as a simple formula: < My intention is to BE … so as to DO … >
5. Engage with action – Take focused action towards a positive outcome. Finally, once I feel light and am clear on my intention and emotions, I decide on a resourceful way forward and focus my energy on meaningful actions. This means staying focused on key initiatives and actions which I can take. This means asking myself: What can I do about the situation now? How can I contribute or support positively?

Working through our emotions, especially in times of adversity and challenge is not always easy. It requires awareness and courage to overcome these waves or else we might sink and be overwhelmed by them.

I hope, just like in my case, the 5 steps of the PEACE method can help you better handle the current situation and shift into a more resourceful and response-able state.