Anger is supposed to be okay according to my therapist. We have not yet gone into the subject too deeply, but I think she meant that anger is a normal human emotion and that that feeling is okay to have.

I was telling her of how I abhor anger.

I avoid anger. I run away from anger — literally and figuratively. Especially the anger in others.

First, an aside: When I was a young kid I had a bit of a mean streak in me (if three makes a streak). I don’t want to re-live those times again right now, but there were three instances when I bullied and hurt some other kids. I don’t want to recount exactly what happened as I am deeply pained and ashamed of what I did. Let me leave this thought with that I saw (and felt) the hurt I caused another boy in a disgusting act by the boy’s father against his own son.

But there are some times today when I get angry and let my anger overcome my reasoning powers (limited as that power is).

Part of "anger is okay" though, I believe, is that although the feeling of anger maybe okay, the lashing out at others in anger is not. I am not talking about anger at, say, someone who robs you. No. I mean anger at, say, a blog post or comment; anger at someone else’s attitude; anger at someone’s ethnicity, class, race, gender or sexual identity (luckily I am not plagued by this latter class).

When I look back at the (not too many but enough) times I have posted an angry comment, yelled at a slow driver, insulted someone, I think that I was really acting out some deep rooted anger that I have never dealt with — some internal turmoil never resolved.

There are too many, for me, now, as I look back, instances in my life about which I need to say…

I was wrong and I am sorry.