I come from a line of defiant and rageful women. Rage is what spurred my mother to get a PhD. when her high school guidance counselor told her that she wasn’t smart enough to go to college. Rage is what caused my grandmother to leave her husband and raise 5 children on her own without an eighth grade education.
When I talk about rage I don’t mean frustration or anger. I mean hand shaking, voice trembling, white hot rage. Rage is a like an internal fire that erupts spontaneously. My body gets hot and my head starts to hurt before my brain understands what has happened. My rage picks up on unfairness, entitlement, and injustice before I do.
It doesn’t feel good but it can do good.
I have learned that the only way to manage my fire is to harness and use it. When I am enraged not only should I speak up and say something but I must say something if I don’t want to be consumed by my own fire. My rage is at the core of my defiance. It helps me do what I believe to be right and not what I am told or supposed to do. It is a catalyst for me to create change. Rage is why I started my business and created a place For Us and By Us.
There is a lot of power in knowing and understanding the depths of your own rage. It is only when we ignore it or don’t direct it that we or others are consumed by it. How do you harness your rage?