Friday, January 9, 2015

Issue 502 Dealing with Angry people January 9, 2015

While we discussed how we dealt with our own anger yesterday, we did not discuss how to deal with people who are angry at us, or the world.  So how should we react to an angry person?

Ways to react:

1) Don't get hurt:  For one, keep your distance.  If these people are violently angry, then you will want to avoid interacting with them as much as possible.  Also, if they attack you, then defend yourself so that you can avoid injury.  This is obviously an extreme case, but it is usually best to let angry people be, especially if they are expressing themselves publically, which usually means they want to engage in an argument.  Thus, avoid them so that you do not allow them the satisfaction.

2) If you are targeted:  Once the angry person has you in their sights there are a few ways to react.  If they want you to engage in a verbal sparring match, then you must meet that with "love".  In this case ask them what made them angry.  What went wrong with their day today to make them feel that way?  So you are just going to ask questions of them until they get frustrated and walk away or it turns into a discussion where they are basically venting to you and you are lending them a kind ear to listen to their problems.  Another option is to give short one to two word replies like "yes", "no way" or similar responses.  This prevents your interaction with the angry person into an argument and keeps the angry person from lashing out at you if at all possible.

Conclusion:  These are the two primary methods of dealing with angry people that I know.  Basically avoidance or converting the anger of the angry person into venting/having a discussion are the two best methods.  Obviously, everyone has their own methods of dealing with other people’s anger, but like I said, these worked for me and I share them with you so you can see if they will work for you too.


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