When asked about advice on how to stop being angry at the world, I took a while to reflect on the reasons why people may be angry and what can be done to revert that feeling. If for one it’s easy to understand that the world is too often a cruel place with bad intentions, it’s also important to focus on our own humanity to find a balance point with which to improve ourselves, our way of life on our daily life and what we can do to make the best with what we got.
There are several techniques and perspectives that will help most people achieve a better understanding of themselves and their place in the world and, in return, approach their preconceived ideas about the world with a refreshed, more positive point of view.
Though the advice listed here is not scientific, it will mot definitely help you identify one or more root causes for your anger towards the world.
Believe that in its majority, the issue starts with your approach every day and though it’s true that there is so much wrong in the world to make us mad, there is also too much beauty within to grant us a silver lining on every turn. In the end, it’s all up to you.
Find some advice on how to stop being angry at the world below and find out what you can do to make it shine for you.
Perspective is everything. If you focus on the bad, you’ll very likely find it as it’s often too easy to find wrong in most things in life. Whether it’s people’s shortcomings, friends or relatives that are not living up to your expectations, you’ll be glad to know it’s all up to you.
If you focus on the good and only the good of whatever deal you got in life, you’re more likely to accept that you’re more privileged than you want to accept.
If you’re reading this, odds are that you’re more privileged than over 90% of the world’s population. Fair enough, you didn’t ask for this, but whilst you’re gazing at an expensive screen somewhere, you’re not worried about where your next meal or fresh water may come from. In fact, if anything, you may have the means to make a positive change in any of those people’s life and that, in return, will bring you a refreshed sense of belonging and purpose.
I’m not saying that it will make the world alright in one simple magical step, but the best people and relationships I’ve ever met and built in life were born out of selfless actions. Never be afraid to look ridiculous if you’re doing what you know it’s right.
Loose Ridiculous Social Media Standards
You know where I’m coming from. The perfect Instagram lives, the toxic “friends” on Facebook that live the fairytale life. It doesn’t matter that it’s not real, these people live off the fact that appearance sells. Some people are only happy – I’ll use the term widely here – if they can show a life that’s better than yours. A better house, a better car, a Caribbean holiday, the expensive item you dream of. It doesn’t matter. You’re better off without them if people either envy your life or want to sell you a life that has to LOOK better than yours.
What you need is healthy friendships, no matter how few, that will be there when you need it and ask how you’ve been out of the blue.
The type of friends that don’t want anything from you other than spend time together over a great conversation and a laugh.
Cultivate and protect these as they are hard to come by and easy to loose in this Age of ridiculous social media. No one has 2000 friends. You’ll be lucky if you have a handful by the time you’re an adult, so treasure them and disconnect from relations that bring nothing but grief and bad vibes.
Help Others Selflessly
Fair enough, sometimes if we’re really angry at the world we may be the ones in need of help. But you’ll find that goodness generates good and by giving to others, you’ll also find out that others will be there for you. It’s one of life’s best kept secrets though your mom or dad have told you from the start: Be good to others!
When you help others achieve their targets, give them a selfless hand with anything they may need, you’re giving them hope and in return they’ll pay you in the same currency.
The state of things is much due to the fact that many people believe they are entitled to everything and became more self-obsessed, locked in their own world and unable to understand that very often helping others is the ultimate way to achieve a better world.
Focus Less on Things, More on People
It’s been sold as an idea for decades. You can make more, you are worth more, you should get more. More! But when is more just more than enough? What is the ratio of happiness between the things you own and how happy you feel? Are you giving up the best things in life to make that little extra money? Will that bring you peace of mind? Extra time with friends and family?
Most likely the answer to all these reflects your priorities in life. You’re either living a life to achieve a status quo or you’re living a life that focus on your happiness and that of others.
The more you focus on people around you, the more you tend to see the good side of the world. Spending time with your friends, family, children will always make a better world than the extra time you spend working to buy a better car, house or holiday.
People we know are the best thing in life and though as flawed as we may be, they are along with your health, the only thing money can’t buy.
Exercise More
You know it works. Exercising has benefits that go well beyond the way you’ll look.
They lower your stress levels, allow you to rest better and improve your overall mood. Also if you try any group exercise, you’ll most likely end up with lasting personal relationships that will go beyond the exercising grounds.
Some of the best friendships I’ve made and nicest people I’ve met were during football matches, swimming at the local pool or just out for a walk.
It’s a great form of bonding with others and feeling better at the same time.
You’ll soon find out that your more relaxed self will have less reasons to feel bad about the world.
Meditate
Meditation is a great way to relax. In fact, Meditation is a perfect process to get in touch with yourself and your frustrations, as well as developing tools to ensure all that anger is relativized and eventually eliminated.
Very often all the anger we express is born out of certain levels of frustration. Since all this is in your mind, Meditation is the art of calming that mind of yours whilst developing ways to feel better.
The power of sitting in silence and focusing on yourself will teach you more about you than anyone could ever express.
In the end you’ll realize that though many valid arguments may exist for you to be angry at the world, they can all be contained, placed under perspective and understood so that they can be put aside for a healthier, happier way of living.
Express your Anger
Perhaps you like to write or play music. Perhaps painting. Give it a shot. Express your anger.
In the same manner that talking about issues will make you feel lighter, expressing your anger in a productive way will channel it towards something physical and palpable.
Some of the best pieces of art in History have been created from scratch with anger in their core. They reflect a common Human feeling that most of us feel at some point in life – if not constantly – and are a great tool to help you identify that anger and get in touch with it.
Only by knowing ourselves at that deeper level can we actually do something to improve on it.
Don’t worry if you feel like that you have no specific talent to express it, you’ll most likely impress yourself in the end!
Humor
Most of the best humor in the world is based on the anger that its critics express for it. Whether they are sarcastic or purely crude, many comedians have great material on things that commonly make us angry about the world.
By facing this material expression of humor, you’ll be most likely laughing at your own perspective of what’s wrong. This will bring not only some relief but also a bonding experience amongst people that have the same point of view about critical issues.
Humor has always been one of the most powerful tools to get in touch with uncomfortable and deceiving subjects.
It doesn’t mean that you’ll have to run and sign up to become a stand-up comic but you may as well take a night out in a comedy club or just sit through your Netflix offer of stand-up pieces. Your angry self will laugh loud and hard and you’ll feel much more relief at the end of it.
Change Your Focus
Perhaps you can identify something that’s not adding up to your happiness. Sometimes it’s the fact that we embark on gossip, envy, petty thoughts.
It’s all up to you to make that change and it’s a change worth considering.
I used to embark easily on gossip at work or have conversations about people I wasn’t fond of and the fact was that though I knew this made me a worse person, I still rode along.
After assuming my frustrations were the vehicle of this petty way of life, I decided to stop talking about people unless I had something positive to say about them. In the beginning I made sure I wouldn’t embark on such conversations and would steer them towards other subjects but in time I actually started killing those conversations by focusing on something good about those same people.
The effect was contagious as it created a lighter mood at work and I naturally avoided any gossip subjects.
This reflects the fact that it’s all in your mindset. If you embark in petty feelings, you’ll feel the negative effect of them sooner or later. If you focus on the good, you’ll feel a much better person and inspire others to be better, making the world a much better place.
Take a Deep Breath
You know you want to explode sometimes. To honk at that driver. To shout at that rude person. To make the world pay for its mistakes.
But is it really worth it? What is there to gain?
I know I’ve been there many, many times. It’s either the rude person, the careless driver, the negligent service provider. In fact, there are days where the world seems like it took the day off to make your life worse. Don’t take it personal. Perhaps things have all gone wrong today, this week, month or year, but it’s all down to you to turn the page.
Sure, you can shout at people. Be aggressive. Perhaps rude. But that won’t either correct their behavior nor it will get you any relief. In fact, it will only build up your stress levels and leave you desperate and exhausted.
When you see someone doing a mistake, be supportive. Give them a hand and help them. Smile. Don’t be so quick to judge others as perhaps and very often that’s true, they may have some limitation whether physical or psychological and are struggling as much or more than you are with their day.
Taking a deep breath and keeping your primitive self on a leash will give you an added feeling of achievement. You’ll feel like you’re actually an evolved being, worthy of the XXI Century and an actual nice person living in Society.
By assuming others have bad days that may actually be worse than hours means that you’re not considering everyone is negligent or mean, only that they’re Human in the same way you are and so, prone to error and yes, bad mood.
Take a few seconds of inaction to prevent a bad attitude. A deep breath with self-control goes a long way making the world a better place.
Engage in Some Form of Productive Work
It may be painting that wall. Writing a text. Getting the extra mile delivered at work. Volunteer to do something you never thought of doing.
An old saying stated that “work dignifies a man” and nothing could be more true.
Engaging in productive work will give you a sense of belonging and achievement. Not only will your mind be focused in getting the best possible result, you’ll be developing your skills and have something palpable to show for it.
It may be that you’ll help someone such as an elderly neighbor have his grass cut or his fence painted, the fact is that even working for your own needs will grant you that excitement of seeing something you’ve done for yourself. If you can chain it in a way that you’ll be helping others, it’s all for the best as you will in fact be making the world better.
Care for Something Else
The options are endless.
To me, it was planting trees and caring for a garden. It brought me a rewarding experience as you care for life other than yours. Watching flowers bloom and trees giving fruit filled me with joy.
Whether you’re engaging in planting something and nurturing it, getting a pet and making it happy or giving something to your community, the rewarding feeling you’ll get out of it will bring sunshine to your life’s worse feelings. Not only will you be caring for something else other than yourself, you’ll be most likely feeling a sense of achievement.
Be Grateful For What You Have
You have your reasons to be angry at the world, but so does everyone else.
If you learn how to be happy with what you have, you will most likely feel like a better you.
In fact, many times we tend to forget the good things we already have in our lives. Whether it’s a loving family, amazing friends, true love by our side or simply a healthy existence, any of those will already make it up for a better life than most of the people alive right now.
You may have running clean water, food on your table every day more than once a day, a roof over your head and some money in your pocket. That already leaves you far ahead compared to most.
You’re more successful than you think and your life is worth and means more than you give it credit for.
The world is not always a perfect place – far from it – but it’s also packed with immense beauty, selflessness, incredible places and people.
It’s up to you to make the most of whatever time you have in this Earth, so get your focus right and be thankful.
Give More
Have you honestly ever tried it? Giving things away for no money is in this day and age sometimes unthinkable but an action that can go a long way.
Giving away something is one of the most rewarding experiences a person can get involved in. Whether it’s your time to help, clothes you don’t use, furniture, older appliances, the list of useless things that exist at your home are probably a treasure to those that have less.
If you find the will and time to give things away, whether you bought them or are used articles, you’ll find that the gratefulness from others will move your heart. Not only will you be making the world a better place for yourself, you’ll definitely be making a better one for others.
Don’t Be Afraid To Look for Professional Help
If you’ve been through all the steps listed here before and nothing’s done it for you, don’t be afraid to look for comfort in the hands of a professional.
Often, causes may not be as obvious as they may seem and a professional will have the right tools and ability to guide you in the right direction by identifying the root of any discomfort.
Professionals may shed a light on subjects in a way that you or another person may not and thus, help you enjoy the things that matter the most to you.
Since we’re all different and react differently to the world, our motivations and our perspective may just need that little extra help to get it all making sense again.
Don’t ever consider searching for Professional help as a defeat. It is in fact a victory over yourself as taking the first step to solving an issue is always assuming there is one to solve.
When it comes to stop being angry at the world, you have to take it as a challenge. A daily, constant challenge.
The result should you be successful is a better you and only a better you can deliver enough positive energy to make the world a better place.
It’s very easy to be brought up as if the world owes us anything, amplifying our problems to a critical state and seeing bad everywhere we look. It may be that our own frustrations are the barrier in our way and in fact we must review our perspective and our place in the world.
If we’re angry at the world it may be that our conception of the world and ourselves is out of place.
The above listed points are here to help you achieve a better and more balanced way of life that will most likely ensure your perspective will change.
The world can be a bad place sometimes and it’s easy to be angry at it, but rest assured you don’t have to be part of all that.
Believe that in its majority, the issue starts with your approach every day and though it’s true that there is so much wrong in the world to make us mad, there is also too much beauty within to grant us a silver lining on every turn. In the end, it’s all up to you.
Perhaps you like to write or play music. Perhaps painting. Give it a shot. Express your anger.
You have your reasons to be angry at the world, but so does everyone else.
