Anger and using it as fuel

When I used to practice martial arts and play football in highschool I would find that my anger would give me great momentary strength, but if that anger became sustained I would get tunnel vision, and my technique would become sloppy. I'd be so focused on one thing, that I wouldn't be able to plan for the next move. I was able to push somebody down, but while lost in the satisfaction of knocking them down they were able to reverse the situation on me, or land more blows that I could have blocked if I had been more focused.

There might be something to using anger for short bursts if you are able to regain focus directly after, but I am unconvinced that a sustained angry fighter or athlete could be of better use than a focused opponent.

I think yours is an excellent response, Sirch Nayr.

A psychologist I heard speak years ago addressed the issue of why we often say foolish things we don't mean when we become angry. He explained that extreme anger is a component of our fight-or-flight survival mechanism, and it causes a number of physiological changes. One of those changes is re-routing blood flow to our voluntary and involuntary muscles in preparation for extreme physical exertion; that extra blood is diverted from the brain, so our thinking abilities become clouded.

That explains not only why we make regrettable statements when angry, but also why we lose clarity and focus in physical endeavors when angry as you described. Our brains just aren't working at their full capacity.

The discussion in this forum reminds me of a passage from a SWTOR book that I'm currently reading called "Fatal Alliance" which reads:

"Being a Sith was not just about feeling hatred and anger, it was finding a way to focus these feelings toward the attainment of mastery."

Anger like any emotion can be transmuted as a springboard that one can use to launch into a personal endeavor. When utilized in a constructive manner anger can produce results and get things done effectively. But, like all things it should be used in moderation because then you'll end up dependent on using the emotion of anger all the time when you want to accomplish something.

I hit the gym regularly as well and getting a spark of anger stirred up in you does help with gaining some extra strength to finish a final rep. I've learned to transmute that anger into a feeling of excitement and euphoria knowing I can push through and complete my set. So, for me, anger is just a jumpstart which leads to a well-spring of other emotions that I can use to accomplish my workout goals.

I can agree with what you are saying about that extra jolt on final reps. I'm curious if whether the results would be positive when using anger on all reps throughout a routine. I would think that using it too often would result in burning yourself out too fast. Like you said, moderation is key.

As a start i want to say that Anger can be used as fuel, as long as that doesn't turn out to be fuel for the wrong engine so to speak.

From personal experience I can tell that almost every wrong engine has had some kind of fuel over my youth and I'm not proud of that because every engine that needs fuel needs to be fueled by myself, and I gave it.

Now my present; I had my fair share of setbacks the last couple of weeks, but i noticed a difference, after a couple of days a feeling very down it felt like a new (metaphorical) engine had been found, again fuel with anger because of the things that happened but also with determination.

And now my vision for the future: I want to build around my newly found, metaphorical engine, to make a beter future and make it easier to achieve my goals which are right in front of me.

Conclusion: Yes i think anger can be used as fuel, as long as you don't fuel the wrong engine with the wrong fuel.

I've personally found that using negative emotions to achieve positive results, is like taking out a loan from a bank. Sure, it's great in the short term because it helps you to achieve some things that were otherwise out of the realm of possibility.

But eventually, the bank is going to come calling for you to pay back the loan, and you're going to have to pay it back with interest.

Even if you use negative emotions to achieve positive things, eventually you are going to become so accustomed to living and acting from a negative set of standards, that your overall personality will begin to shift to morbid attitudes and preoccupations. Again, this is speaking from personal experience.

If your goal is to get hyped up and energized, it is equally possible to achieve the same results coming from a place of positivity. There are uplifting speeches, music, videos, artwork, and attitudes which can get you just as amped up and ready to go as a source which inspires anger.

I've been able to use anger as fuel, I guess. Whenever I feel stressed or angry I go to the gym and have two hour training in Thai box.