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Last month I penned an essay to no one in particular that only a handful of people read titled, “What Shall I Do With the Rage?”
Essentially it was recounting conversations I recently had with friends and colleagues about the suppressed emotions of anger and rage we had been stuffing away in our bodies for decades. A series of events that included videos of police murders, racial bullying, and nationwide and global protests, were stoking these dormant emotions. I likened them to a hibernating bear; something you tiptoe around but dare not poke.
I told friends and family, as well as stated publicly that I could not and would not view any of the videos of the heinous acts of violence that had been visited upon members of my community. Doing so would not only be the equivalent of poking the bear, but crudely unleashing a torrent of rage that I was unprepared and, more importantly, unwilling to contain. “Until somebody can tell what to do with the rage that is very likely to be unleashed when I watch these videos, it is in my best interest not to see them.
I knew there was no more room in my world, my body, to stuff another ugly experience. Not even a Tweet. The negative energy would begin to take an even greater toll on my body. For decades I had the great fortune of not experiencing any pain in my body. But now it was difficult to stand for longer than 10 minutes and walking became a real challenge unless it was first thing in the morning. Outwardly, it seemed like the results of sitting for long periods of time with incorrect posture. That’s easy to accomplish when you sit at a computer all day – in your comfortable home office with little incentive to get up other than for water or hunger. Sitting is the new smoking, as they say.
This, I could sense, was not just from sitting. It was a rapid onset that began before the health club was shut down. It is, I believe, my body’s response to me trying to pack away yet more rage. In medical parlance, it’s called inflammation and there are all sorts of reasons and explanations including the foods we eat and the nutrition we don’t get that are blamed as possible culprits. The late Louise Hay, New Thought Sage and leader, notes in her seminal work of 1984, You Can Heal Your Life, that inflammation is a manifestation of “seeing red” or “inflamed thinking”.
Then what shall I do about the rage? Should I do what I can to make myself more comfortable; take a pill and affirm divine order? Invoke an affirmation to release it back into the void from which it came? The challenge is that it did not emanate from a void. The rage is in response to the negative thoughts and beliefs of man. A collective consciousness that deems itself superior to others who look or believe differently. A consciousness that chooses not to see the diversity of the Divine. And wouldn’t unpacking and jettisoning it deny that injustice and inequality appear rampant on this plane of existence? How then, would the work – our collective assignments get done if we anesthetize ourselves to the suffering of others?
These events are not happening for us to ignore, I don’t believe. They require a shift in consciousness; a massive shift. And it is not written anywhere that a shift would or should be easy or peaceful. Even the sacred texts of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths illustrate time and again that shifts in consciousness and circumstance are often preceded or accompanied by uncomfortable and inconvenient disruptions.
What then, shall I do with the rage? Understand from whence it came and its Divine purpose. And then as payment for the space I occupy while I am here, use my skills, gifts, and talents to contribute to the shift in consciousness that is being called forth.
And what about the negative energy masquerading as inflammation in our body? I asked in my inner-upper chamber. “Girl, let that go!”
And so it is!
June Puzzle Solution
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Coach Deborah Gray-Young
Deborah Gray-Young is the managing partner of D. Gray-Young, Inc. a sales marketing consulting and coaching firm providing strategic communications planning and training for marketers, agencies and media companies.
An ICF accredited coach, Deborah is the author of three books:
What Do They Mean When They Say…?”, Decoding Performance Evaluation Speak, YOU 3.0: A Guide to Overcoming Roadblocks for Professional Women of Color and The Young Professional’s Handbook, a primer for young people entering the professional workforce. All are available on Amazon and Kindle
Deborah is based in Chicago.
Follow her on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgrayyoung/
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