Anger and Other Useless Emotions

Dear Blog,

Lately I've been thinking a lot about emotions, particularly mine, and what role they play in my life and in society. Most people who know me are most likely aware of the fact that I am a pretty emotional person. I've cried drunk at a party, put a hole in my apartment wall out of frustration and even went so far as to take anti-depressants and anxiety medication because I thought I needed them (I didn't). Over the last year or so I feel as if that part of my life is slowly distancing itself from me. I like to think that I've become a stronger, more emotionally stable adult and that my emotions are very much in check. However, a few emotions still seem to escape my grasp every once in awhile and I'm not exactly sure how I feel about that.

     Anger, hatred, annoyed; all emotions or feelings I have been trying to rid myself of as of late. In my honest opinion, these emotions are, as the title states, useless. In my experience they've never served a beneficial purpose but rather, cause pain and anguish in the people around me. The only time I've ever seen anger be useful was in an episode of Dragonball Z where it was used as a catalyst to become a Super Saiyan. But even so, determination and hope proved to be the better and more effective "emotions" to progress into this god-like form.

     One of the biggest reasons I've found these emotions to be not only useless but detrimental to society is the way it makes people behave. I've seen friends, family, strangers and even teachers make social and personal decisions based on these feelings. "I don't want to go to that college because so-and-so goes there.", "I don't want live in this city because so-and-so is a manipulative asshole.", "You can't hang out with me when I'm with this group of people because certain members of this group don't like you."; all of these comments, and many others like it, have been said to me at some point in time. People allow these emotions to drive their behaviors, some of which could determine the next chapter of their life. I even have an acquaintance that wants to move away from the city we live in because I live here. He feels that I'm a manipulative asshole who uses "psychological tricks" on him in order to get what I want. He feels that being around me is a detriment to his health and well-being. I beg to differ, but that doesn't really matter to him. The fact that he would rather move away from this city than be around me seems illogical and like a huge hassle for such a small problem. Why allow yourself to be subjected to these feelings? What benefit is there? Why not shrug it off and just continue to live your life?

     Why have anger at all in your life? What point does it have? Those who act with an emotional mindset rather than a logical one seem to cause more problems for themselves than they end up solving. Why hate anyone? Why distance yourself from them? Saying to yourself, "Oh work is going to suck today because I'm working with this person." doesn't benefit you in the slightest. If anything, it puts you into a negative attitude and you'll make the situation feel like it's worse than it already is. In my experience, a negative attitude towards anything almost always makes it worse. Obviously we can't rid ourselves of all negative emotion, but is there a valid reason to let it affect who we are or how we behave? I don't think there is.

Sincerely,

Josh