Progress Report

Alright, so I guess it's been a little over a week(maybe close to two?) since I made a semi-public declaration of my need to curb my anger...And I am happy to report that I am completely cured!! That's right, I am serene 100% of the time...I am a modern miracle.

  Okay, I'm fucking with you, but you knew that, didn't you? Sure you did.I have, however, been working rather hard at letting things go, and I think that maybe it is starting to take the tiniest of holds in my brain.Again, I think I notice it most with my driving, but I really do find myself being bothered by less, and actually being less bothered by the things that do bother me.

  I think that I am being more patient with my kids.I still lose my temper, but it takes longer, and I'm keeping it more under control.

  This could all be very temporary, and I am not kidding myself that I do not still have a long, long road ahead of me.But I do feel like I have started taking the steps on that road, and I have never really done that before.

I Really Need To Calm Down And Let It Go....

What do I need to let go?

  EVERYTHING.

  I just allow way too much to bother me, and not in amusing Lewis Black kind of way. I just get angry at stupid shit, and I let it fester inside me, and then it ends up coming out over even stupider shit. Or even if it's not stupid, my level of anger is disproportionate, and problematic.

  I lose my temper with my kids way too much.Thankfully, I don't hit them or anything, but I just get angrier than I should, and I yell, and then I pretty much hate myself for it.

  But it's not just them, I lose my temper with my wife, I lose my temper with myself.

  The driving thing has actually gotten a little bit better. The only problem is, when I pick up or drop my kids off at school. the thing I have been listening to is the WTF podcast with Marc Maron, which has some salty language, so it's really not appropriate for the kids to hear. My current solution to that is I found a bunch of Children's audiobooks, and I put them on when I am driving the girls to or from school. That has worked out so far, but I don't know how long it will last. I'll have to start thinking about other things to soothe them when in the car so I can listen to WTF up front.

   When I say the driving is getting better, it has been incremental. I still find myself getting angry about shit on the road, but I think I'm getting better at letting it go MUCH sooner. I wouldn't say immediately, but I would say I am getting it to start subsiding almost immediately, even if it takes a few moments for it to dissipate altogether. So, I actually think that I'm going in the right direction there.

  I just need to figure out a way to make it translate to the rest of my life. I can't imagine I'm a very pleasant person to be around, and I figure at some point my wife will decide that she and the kids would be better off if I was just not around.

  I have begun to think that it's not that far fetched to picture myself as that guy who just sits alone all the time, angry at everything, that nobody wants to be around. I also know that I really do not want to become that guy. I really don't.

  I also figure it can't be very physically healthy for me either. Fat angry guys don't seem to live very long.

  I just can't help feeling I'm going to end up alone or dead soon, probably both.

  I don't know how many people made it to the end of this post, but I do actually feel a little better for having written it.

  So, I think I'm gonna start looking into some anger management options. Anyone with any suggestions, I would appreciate it.