Anger is not hate
Anger, like fear and sadness, is an emotion that can provide us with certain benefits. Like other "pure" emotions, anger can become distorted. Hate is an example of a distortion of both anger and fear.
Anger can come and go, giving us the energy to oppose an obstacle or threat. Anger is the brain supercharged. Anger may be fuel, but hate is more like cancer. While anger can make it difficult to think, hate shuts down reason. Hate is a continuing state of mind embracing lightly repressed rage. Rage vibrates just below the surface of hate ready to explode.
In the next lesson, we will examine the benefits of reasonable anger. Nothing good can come from hate, though, because hate takes possession of the hater. If you hate someone or something, you have placed what you hate beyond compassion and understanding. The hated person becomes an object.
#7. Hate to anger. Go back to your journal entry. If you could recall a hate, try to find the anger that hate buried. Rewrite the statement, substituting anger. "I feel (or felt) angry with ______ because ______." Now peel the onion skin to find fear that might be there. "I feel (or felt) afraid with ______ because ______."Next Principle 8: Understanding anger means being aware of its source