How to Own Your Anger and Overcome It in Relationships

How to Own Your Anger and Overcome It in Relationships

Anger is an authentic emotion that everyone experiences at some point. However, it often becomes even more prevalent in relationships when dealing with another person day in and day out who may not always have the same opinions, ideas, or actions as you do. A successful relationship requires working with anger and learning how to control it instead of keeping feelings bottled in and exploding after a lengthy period.

While we know that it’s essential to control our anger and not let it get the best of us, it’s easier said than done for most people. However, learning to manage such strong emotions is the most effective way to foster better relationships with those who mean the most to you, such as your spouse, children, siblings, and parents.

The Self-Reflection Period

Before you can work on your anger, it’s vital to experience the self-reflection period to understand how you tend to use your anger as a weapon against others. Learn to reflect by asking yourself the following questions:

• Am I overreacting in different situations?

• Have I contributed to conflict instead of trying to resolve it?

• Why do I experience outbursts?

• What is it that causes me to feel such rage and frustration?

• What are some of the things that trigger me most?

• How can I learn to control my anger more effectively?

When you ask yourself these questions, write your responses in a notebook and use them for guidance while making self-improvements. You may not have the answer to every question on the list, but you know that you’re willing to work toward understanding your behaviors, getting out of bad habits, and learning to overcome the anger that has had such a hold on you over the years.

Learning to Control Anger in Relationships with Others

After some much-needed self-reflection, honesty, and genuine understanding, it’s time to work on your relationships with others while controlling that inner rage that you often experience. Instead of saying the first thing that comes to your mind in a difficult situation, try to think of a kinder way to say something without holding everything inside you. Try to find things you love to do that ease some of the stress and help you release the anger from inside you, such as doing yoga, meditating, and going for long hikes outside. If you’re letting go of the hurt and trauma of past experiences that have shaped you into the person you tend to become when you’re angry, you can become a much happier person. You can learn to resolve conflicts instead of creating them, engaging in them, and making situations even worse with anger.

By working on changing your perspective, being more open-minded, learning to be patient when you’re in the wrong, and letting go of anger issues that have been holding you back for so long, you can develop much healthier relationships with yourself and others. When you feel your anger rising up again, take a deep breath and let it out slowly—it will help diffuse the situation before it gets even more intense. If one method doesn’t work well for you, try looking online for additional ways to overcome anger in relationships .

Overcoming anger means being consistent and realizing when you’re in the wrong. It also means swallowing your pride, letting go of the hurtful past, and learning to handle situations better, even when you feel frustrated inside. While anger is a natural emotion that people feel when dealing with different problems, you can’t let it control you. When you have more control over the emotion, you can get through any obstacle in a relationship with a loved one without creating more tension and conflict.