If we let our anger go unchecked, it will fester within us and frequently burst out in the tiniest of situations.
It typically isn’t easy to let go of our anger, especially when people around us constantly provoke us in negative ways.
St. Francis de Sales wrote at length about anger in his Introduction to the Devout Life, encouraging his readers to do the opposite.
Practicing kindness
He explains that one of the best ways to counteract our anger is to practice kindness before we are ever provoked:
Moreover, when there is nothing to stir your wrath, lay up a store of meekness and kindliness, speaking and acting in things great and small as gently as possible.
St. Francis de Sales urges us to, “not only speak gently to our neighbor, but we must be filled, heart and soul, with gentleness.”
The more and more we fill our souls with kindness and gentleness, the easier it will become to control our anger.
Furthermore, we need to not only be kind to our neighbors, but also to those in our own home:
[W]e must not merely seek the sweetness of aromatic honey in courtesy and suavity with strangers, but also the sweetness of milk among those of our own household and our neighbors; a sweetness terribly lacking to some who are as angels abroad and devils at home!
If you want to overcome your anger, try being kind to the next person you meet!
And today we celebrate...