Two sides of the same beast

Some cliche somewhere once said there is a fine line between love and hate — that they are two sides of the same emotion.

While I can definitely agree the people that you love are often the very same people who can hurt you, get under your skin and drive you absolutely crazy, I am not so sure how similar love and hate really are. One allows people to enjoy an amazing endorphin high and can potentially make them mushy. The other can eat someone alive and become crippling. But while hatred can drive people to do bad things and act without thinking — punching a wall or a jerk comes to mind — I am starting to believe that anger can be a good thing.




Yes, anger can make people act out, be reckless and do things they can't take back. But recently I have started to see the good side of anger. It can be a great motivator. Think about it. If someone hurts you or wrongs you and it makes you sad, that just leads to tear-stained pillows and reruns of girly movies. But if someone makes you mad, it can be a motivator to never let it happen again. Maybe it's just me, but I think anger could become a great teaching experience.

If someone takes advantage of you, sadness will just make you feel bad. Anger could teach you to stand up for yourself. If you see someone hurting someone else, anger can make you walk over to the offender and say something. If someone cheats you or breaks your heart, anger will make you wary of a future someone spilling those same lines so it won't happen again. Anger can make you determined to learn from any given mistake or situation. It can lead to a good thing. Sadness just gives you puffy eyes.

I think anger could be a very under appreciated learning tool and a great motivator. Anger gets a bad rep for being the cause of violent and impulsive acts, but I think it could be very helpful to the average person. They just have to know how to use its power for good, not evil.