Don't fly into a rage unless you are prepared for a rough landing. Anger falls one letter short of danger. People constantly blowing fuses are generally left in the dark. If you lose your head, how can you expect to use it?

A Filipino saying advises: "Postpone today's anger until tomorrow." (Then apply this rule the next day and the next.) When you are upset, take a lesson from modern science: always count down before blasting off.

Seneca quipped, "The best cure for anger is delay." Proverbs counsels, "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city" (Prov. 16:32 KJV).

Blowing your stack always adds to the air pollution. You'll never get to the top if you keep blowing yours.

One of the worst fruits of anger is revenge. No passion of the human heart promises so much and pays so little as that of revenge. The longest odds in the world are those against getting even with someone.

Instead of revenge, consider what the Bible says:

Vengeance is mine, I will repay, sayeth the Lord. If thine enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink; for in doing so thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
(Rom. 12:19b-20)

Francis Bacon adds, "In taking a revenge a man is but even with his enemies; but in passing it over, he is superior."

Time spent in getting even is better used in trying to get ahead. Revenge is like biting a dog because the dog has bitten you. When trying to get even, you will always do odd things. "Vengeance is a dish that should be eaten cold" (An Old English Proverb).

Marcus Antonius reflected, "Consider how much more you often suffer from your anger and grief, than from those very things for which you are angry and grieved."

David Hume said, "He is happy whose circumstances suit his temper; but he is more excellent who can suit his temper to any circumstances."

Anger is a boomerang that will surely hit you harder than anyone or anything at which you throw it.

Source: Conquering An Enemy Called Average
by John Mason.
Excerpt permission granted by Insight Publishing