From Anger to Anticipation

June 8, 2008

Dear Friends,

One of the major turning points in my life occurred when I discovered that I had a rather uncomplimentary reputation at the advertising agency where I worked. I found out that I was one of three men called “The Angry Guys.”

Normally, I would have gotten angry over being critically labeled like that (how fitting), and I would have vehemently defended myself. But this time I didn’t . . . for one simple reason: It was true. I was angry. I was constantly hitting my fist on the desk or kicking trashcans across the room. But why? Exactly what was I so angry about? To my credit, I became willing to find out.

After doing a little soul-searching, reading a few self-help books, and seeking some professional counseling, I began to get to the core of my issue. I learned that anger is almost always a secondary emotion. Beneath anger, there is usually a primary feeling . . . and beneath that, there is always an underlying thought.

In my case, I realized that I was angry because I was chronically frustrated. And I was frustrated because things didn’t always turn out the way I wanted them to . . . and I thought that they always had to. Why did I think that? Because I had never believed that anything “good” could just happen on its own. And I had never believed that something “bad” could, in the end, turn out to be beneficial.

In short, I didn’t believe in the basic beneficence of the universe. And I certainly didn’t believe there was a higher intelligence in this universe that was always working for good on my behalf. Instead, I believed that if I wanted anything good to occur in my life, then it was up to me—and me alone—to make that happen.

Eventually, though, I grew so tired of trying to control every single aspect of my life, I finally became willing—as many people put it—to “let go and let God.” For the first time in my life I stopped trying to force the outcomes I desired, and I became willing to consider the possibility that something good could arise out of something I initially thought was “bad.” Through prayer and meditation I began to seek divine guidance before acting. And I became more lovingly responsive instead of fearfully reactive to the challenges that arose in my life.

The result? Miracles began to occur in my life immediately. It seemed like the second I let go of the idea that everything had to go my way, everything did go my way—maybe not in the way that I planned, or in a way that I expected, but definitely in a way that was to my benefit, and to the benefit of all involved.

I let go, and I discovered “The Divine Flow.” Since that time, I have devoted my life to learning how to better recognize that flow, and cooperate with it.

These days, I rarely get angry. Frustrated at times, yes. Disappointed, sure. Uncertain once in a while, of course. But I don’t stay in those states for very long. I simply remember what my experience has proven to me time and time again: That I do, indeed, live in a beneficent universe, and this universe is always guiding me to my highest good . . . from wherever I happen to be.

Here’s to trusting in the divine flow, and moving from a state of anger to a place of peace . . . and even better, to a positive anticipation of something really good happening.

Steven

© 2008 by Steven Lane Taylor
Author of, Row, Row, Row Your Boat:
A Guide for Living Life in the Divine Flow