Righteous Indignation
Just because you’re right to be angry it doesn’t mean anger is right for you.
Righteous Indignation is a double-edged sword in our lives. It comes wrapped in such just and fair purposes. Who doesn’t want to stand up for truth, justice and fairness in a world that seems to demonstrating less and less of just those qualities?
Yet the anger of righteousness is downright dangerous to our own physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health.
I was the Queen of Righteous Indignation. I believe now that those of us who have felt powerlessness in our lives have a stronger tendency toward getting righteous. I know I do, rather I did.
My righteous indignation reared its powerful head all the time. When I felt powerless as others were manipulating or taking advantage of me or when I saw the same thing happening to others. I’d get so angry - I’d stew and stew, tell everyone I could find about the unfairness of whatever or whoever…
Then, I learned a an important lesson about righteous indignation.
Try on your Righteousness
Close your eyes and imagine that someone is abusing, taking advantage of or lying about you. What do you feel? Maybe you’re frothing at the mouth, raging and ranting, calling names, telling all your friends and basically – you’re pissed. And you have every right to be! Can you feel your blood boiling?
Now – stop and pay attention to your energy – the vibration you’re living that is manifesting in your life. Sense your emotions. Check in with your body. Can you find any positive energy or emotion? Does your body feel light and healthy or is there a fist in the pit of your stomach?
Now – ask yourself…
- Do you believe that we create our lives based on our emotional focus and vibration? <YES!>
- What emotion are you feeling when you’re righteous? <Negative…>
- What are you creating in your life when you’re righteous? <Oops, that would be Negative energy>
- How can your righteous indignation create a positive result in your life? <Uh oh>
Can you guess the lesson?
We may be absolutely right about the unfairness of whatever has us righteous. But - just because you’re right doesn’t mean it’s healthy to get righteous. Just because you’re right doesn’t mean you’re creating a positive result in your life. Anything but!
My biggest lesson…
The deeper truth is that anger is often a signal that we aren’t taking care of ourselves. Maybe we’re hanging out with the wrong people to be with the “popular” crowd. Maybe we’re not drawing our boundaries, or valuing who and what we are enough to turn around and walk away from those who are abusing or wronging us.
I learned that instead of getting righteous at the world – it was time for me to get right with myself.
What about you? Do you get righteous? How do you pivot from the negative to the positive? How do you handle those situations that trigger your anger?
5 Comments
Reader Comments (5)
Wisdom here...lots of it. As corny as the cliche is, we get more with honey than vinegar...hmmm, that's not the cliche, but it goes something like that.
For me, when I get THAT angry, I know I must NOT DO ANYTHING until, at the earliest, the next day. It is AMAZING how things can look so different a day later...
From my DEAR friend Warren Whitlock. My comment software seem to dislike Warren (it ate his comment with the submit button) so - I'm posting for him! You can find warren and his brilliance regarding social media at ProfitableSocialMedia.com
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I think that, more often than not, "righteous indignation" is an oxymoron.
The most important lesson I got from years of church training was the phrase about leadership AFTER a list of best ways to treat a follow (kindness, mercy, love unfeigned, etc).
"Reproving betimes with sharpness"
I used to stop there and justify my indignation saying "sometimes you have to clear the temple" (I know, pretty arrogant).
But when you read beyond that phrase, two conditions are attached.
1. Do it when you get a message from God that it's right
2. After you do it, you have to show MORE love to the person
#1 pretty much rules out acting on righteous indignation in most cases.
#2 is the answer to how to act. I think the text reads "showing an increase in love thereafter. lest he esteem thee to be his enemy"
Yup. I've lost a few friends by letting loose with righteous indignation. It take s lot of love to make up for each burst [:)] .
Its amazing how many people have yet to learn that anger can thwart all growth & development, even worse can make you lose any progress you've made!
I love this- especially the part about checking in with your body. So true! "Anger" (or, rather, not being angry) is one of my favorite topics... I'm amazed at how controversial it is. Time and again, I've been told that anger is a gift and it helps people feel/do better.
HI Janice, Bruce and Tara. SO great to have you stopping by!
righteous Indignation was the fuel for my soul for decades. I thought I was defending the downtrodden, helping the less fortunate etc etc.
What I was doing was venting my own childhood powerlessness -focused on others. I wasn't helping myself, and in those moments of righteous anger - I wasn't helping anyone else either.
I do think anger has its places. For example - anger is a more empowered emotion than depression...a step up if you will. So I'd rather be angry at whatever is depressing me than powerless to that depression. But when I step beyond the anger is where I find my true power!
THANKS so much for stopping by and here's to THRIVING!
luv n light
reb