My dearest anger!

There are people who tell me that I may not feel you. They judge you as if you were something bad that I must get rid of. They suggest that I am resentful when I experience you and must release you in order to have "inner peace" and "be healed." They make me feel as if you are something wrong, disgusting, even evil that turns me into an unforgiving monster.

They do not want to know about you and WHY I am angry. They are not interested in what I feel. Instead, they give me advice and lecture me. They are afraid to listen to you and understand what you are all about, so they judge you when you appear within or around them and believe that takes care of the problem you pose for them.

In my childhood, a ferocious war was fought against you, which forced me to ban you from my soul and emotional repertoire. Later, I continued this fight against you by myself because I wanted to be as "good and forgiving" -- perfect -- as everyone expected me to be...This was another essential reason why I silenced you. It gave me headaches and other physical symptoms, even illnesses -- or I felt miserable, confused, upset and could not sleep. Shutting you out turned me into a servile, submissive slave without her own, true voice who could not speak up and who had no power over her life....

Used by permission of Barbara Rogers from her highly recommended site: www.screamsfromchildhood.com