Native American Spirituality

[Spirit Dancer]

When we're angry with someone else, especially for long periods of time, we do harm to ourselves. It's such a simple concept to understand, but understanding it doesn't usually make it easier to control our anger. After all, some things that people do to us or to others are so bad that we have to stay mad, we have to hold onto the righteous anger that results from their actions. It sounds logical, but it's completely untrue.

When we're angry or resentful, we hurt ourselves. It's worth repeating, over and over, every day of our lives, until we're free of such feelings. Anger will never help us to move on to higher levels of self, for it stunts our growth and keeps us locked in negativity while we should be growing in positive ways.

Forgiveness helps us to cast away our anger. So do compassion, love, and understanding. We have so many gifts available to us that can help us to grow as people that are held in check by our negative emotions that we risk being held prisoner at low levels of being by them.

If we're going to move on, we can't take our anger with us. We have to leave it behind or it will hold us down while we beat our wings in a futile effort to fly. It takes a strong decision on our part, and it takes a lot of effort to follow through on that decision, which is probably why so few people are willing to make the commitment to try to live anger-free. It's easier to be angry than it is to forgive, but if we're angry, we're feeding our ego. If we get rid of the anger, we're feeding our higher selves. Which one do you want to be feeding?