anger – Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie

Marching On…

March 1, 2022March 1, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in March 2022

I have been rather MIA on WordPress for the past few days. There was nothing specifically wrong. I just got caught up in real life.

1) Pet News… Kat and I paid a visit to the vet yesterday. She received a vaccine and a clean bill of health. Yay!

2) Politics… have been the subject of virtually every article I have read lately. 🙄 It is amazing how so many people feel that they have all of the answers to all of the issues locally, nationally, and globally. I understand that people have opinions and are free to express them… But it is obvious that the people who are most adamant about what is being done wrong, and how it must be done, have half the facts and have twisted them to suit their purpose.

3) Bizarre…The world watches the Russian/Ukraine situation – the destruction, the devastation, the danger of it spreading to global conflict. In North America, there are still those vehemently protesting health mandates that have for the most part been dropped. 🤦

4) Anger... I grew up in a peaceful home. There was never screaming or physical violence of any sort – not from my parents and not amongst the siblings. It just wasn’t done, so I definitely was not prepared for it in the real world. I used to be terrified of angry people. I felt that they were attacking me with their anger – often for something I did, something I should have anticipated would upset them. A couple of years ago, I realized that it isn’t about me. Angry people spew anger because that is what they are – angry. I still do not understand how or why some people can be so angry. I do not trust angry people. I think they are irrational, unstable, destructive, and unpredictable. There are a lot of angry people in the world these days. They are virtually impossible to avoid altogether without shutting oneself off completely. Since that is not terribly practical, I have been spending a lot of time focussing on building up my inner reserve of peace, happiness, and love. I doubt that I will ever figure out how to affect how angry people feel (or express themselves) but I am hopeful that I can get to a place where they do not change or affect how I feel. That would be nice. 🤗

5) Taxes.. I have completed and submitted our taxes. Yay!!! Due to a small glitch in the program I was using, I received an email from the government advising me that they had revised my math and that our refund was $500.00 higher than I expected it to be. More Yay!!!

***Not quite spring but at least it is MARCH***

That’s all I have for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞

February 13th – My Path is Peace

February 13, 2022February 13, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in Updates - February 2022

When I retired, I started to walk – a lot. I started walking in an effort to improve my health, but I found other benefits. One of the best of these benefits was that I found it particularly calming. As I walked my favourite path in Patricia Park, I thought of it as my path to peace. After months and miles of walking, I was at a place where I felt that wherever I was, peace was my path.

https://seclusion101withannemarie.com/2020/08/08/my-path-is-peace/

Update 2022
I have found the path of peace quite easy and pleasant and have managed to generally stay my course.
I have drifted over to and even straddled the paths of love, happiness, hope and faith. That was nice.
I have occasionally zigged left, when I should have zagged right and have found myself on the paths of fear, resentment, anger, or the like. They were unpleasant, so I returned to my path of peace.
I have been drawn to a sparkly path, alit with party lights, and decorated with balloons and streamers. I soon realized that this festive path was a meandering pity party filled with blame games and that it would take me nowhere. I returned to the path of peace.
I have stumbled on the horrific paths of hate and righteousness. I did not last long on those paths. They were too exhausting!
I have learned that life is filled with paths, some hard, some easy, some better, some worse. You have to pick your paths carefully and you have stay alert – because as simple as it is to get sidetracked, getting back on track is seldom as easy as it seemed it would be.

**That one could lead to something sketchy 🥴**

**Confidentially walking the** ***straight and narrow*** 🙂

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day!

November 3rd – Anger

November 3, 2021November 3, 2021 by annemariedemyen, posted in Wisdom - November 2021

* Many words of wisdom have been attributed to Guatama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. According to Bodhipaksa, a popular Buddhist teacher, this quote often attributed to Buddha, is not a true Budhha quote. Bodhipaksa has determined that this quote is actually one by Eknath Easwaran who was paraphrasing Buddha’s teachings on anger and karma in his book “To Know Me is To Love Me. The Bhagavad Gita For Daily Living Vol. 3. ”

You will not be punished for your anger. You will be punished by your anger.
– Eknath Easwaran

This is definitely one of those quotes that resonates with me. Anger is such a destructive, exhausting emotion. Yet, there seems to be so many people who are often, and even typically, angry these days. I do not understand why – I do not understand the motivation or the pay off. I do not understand why they believe that their anger is worth the price.

I have seen any number of angry people in my day. I have seen ‘adults’ throw infantile tantrums, make violent threats, and heard them say terrible hateful hurtful things. I have seen such people pay the consequences, for their anger. I have seen them drive away loved ones, destroy their businesses, ruin their careers, damage their own personal possessions, cause accidents, and create chaos in their own lives.

I can see that being angry is punishment, in and of itself. Yet, when people get angry they will do or say anything to justify their anger. And… Anger is not only tolerated in our society, it is often condoned or encouraged. Why? It is detrimental to everyone including, and especially those who are angry.

I have my own self-destructive issues, but I am seldom, if ever, angry. Occasionally annoyed, befuddled or the like – but seldom angry. I really do not understand why people so often resort to anger. Am I missing something?