Where do anger and sadness come from?
There is no right or wrong emotion that an individual can experience. If we experience an emotion, it is valid. However, how we choose to channel this energy and express the emotion can result in positive or negative consequences for ourselves, others, or our environment. The more we can recognize, understand and label our emotions, the more we can control how we express and regulate them.
If we place the four basic emotions in a pyramid, anger can be found at the tip of the pyramid. Below anger, we can most often find a lot of sadness, grief, loss, violation, humiliation, or a sense of isolation. Further down at the baseline of the pyramid we encounter anxiety. When our environment seems unpredictable, uncertain, and unclear the brain signals that there is a threat and the first set of anxieties screams into us saying “We don’t know what to do”, rendering us incapacitated. Soon enough, the second set of anxieties join along and scream that we are liable to failing or making a mistake or enduring judgment on what we are about to do. They scream “No we can’t do this” and strong feelings of being ill-equipped to do something or face a person or situation set in. Now that we are aware of where anger and sadness arise from, let us meet them within ourselves and others with some compassion. Sit down with it and gain clarity on what it is that it feels it doesn’t know about a person or situation and ask for help and support if they continue to feel ill-equipped. Seeking help is taking responsibility.
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