Anger Prevents You From Seeing Clearly

Hey team, all right, so here we are once again. How important is it? I hope you’re enjoying this little kind of miniseries on words that prevent you from growing and maturing into the person that I believe God has created you to be. These are things that I have struggled with at times in my life. Most of you know that I just turned 249 years old, so that’s something to be celebrated and excited about. Those of you sitting there pondering and giving me that “dog-does-math” look, I want you to understand. The Marine Corps just turned 249 years old. So, as a Marine, I’m 249 years old. My son Jonathan always gives me that look, like, “Dad, no you’re not.” But every so often, I get him wondering. “Is it possible that Dad is 249 years old?” He’s a pretty smart kid, though.

All right, so today we’re going to talk about anger and how anger prevents you from seeing clearly. You want to mature, you want to find your purpose, you want to grow in who you are as a leader, as a person, as a husband, as a father, as a wife. You want to grow and mature as a person. Anger can prevent that from happening because it prevents you from being able to see clearly. You get so angry, and I believe there are even some studies out there. Physiologically, when you get really upset, your vision narrows. You get really singularly focused on a particular subject or idea, and nothing else resonates. You can’t be reasoned with in those moments.

Many of you are thinking right now and picturing a person in your life. Maybe me, I don’t know, I hope not. A supervisor, a previous person in your life, somebody that you walked away from that was angry so much of the time. And what I’m saying is resonating with you right now because you know that individual was so angry and so frustrated that it prevented them from being able to see clearly. Their own faults, their own inadequacies that they needed to change and work on.

I can honestly sit here and say that in my life, I’ve had problems where I got angry to the point where I couldn’t see clearly. It hurt me. And it hurt others in those moments because my frustration and anger took over to the point where I couldn’t see clearly, and I made some mistakes in my life. I’ve gotten better. Obviously, I think this is something that if you leave untouched or don’t pay attention to, it can rise back up—for some of us, more than others, possibly.

But anger prevents you from seeing clearly. It’s something that, if you’re recognizing in yourself, and what I’m saying is suddenly making you think, “I wonder if that might be me?” Talk to some friends. I bet you they’ll tell you the truth. If you’re humble enough and honest enough with yourself to ask, they will come to you and say, “You know what, bro? Yeah, you’ve got some anger issues.”

Maybe people have told you before, and you’ve put it off as an excuse from time to time. You say, “Oh, but Chad, you don’t understand.” I hear you. I’ve been there. Remember, I’m 249 years old. I’ve been there. But the important thing for you to recognize is that you might have some anger. If that’s you, then it’s something you might have to deal with. There’s professional help you can get, but at the same time, good friends—if you ask them to hold you accountable, and you’re thinking about this and putting intentionality to it—you can also work on it yourself. I’m not saying professional help is a bad thing. I’m just saying that there are a lot of things you can do. It’s about putting your intention to the thing that you need to change and work on.

If you do that and get accountability partners and people in your life to help you, along with professional help if needed—psychiatrists and such—then you can deal with that anger. There are anger management courses and classes, many churches have these for people. There are lots of resources out there for you.

Again, anger prevents you from seeing clearly. If this is something you’re dealing with, or you know someone who is, maybe you can help be their accountability partner and work through it.

All right, guys, I want you to know—God loves you, I love you. I pray nothing but blessings upon you this holiday season. And remember, as always, let’s be valuable because nothing less will do. That’s how our company grows, and that’s how we as people grow. When we put our heart and mind and focus to being valuable to ourselves, to our family, to our community, to our team, that value drives success. That’s why it’s our core purpose at Northwest Enforcement. To be valuable, because nothing less will do, and that value drives success through the roof.

Have a wonderful rest of your week. Spend a little time thinking about, “Hey, am I too angry?” Something to work on. All right, I’ll see you guys next week.