One way to combat anger

You lost your temper and made drastic, irrational decisions on behalf of that which possessed you: anger. The broken plates, a shattered gift, or worse, when our thoughtless actions cost us the trust of those we care about—all a mess of our own creation. In the aftermath, you feel justified “given the circumstances”, rationalizing that anyone would’ve reacted the same way. You apologize, then go and pity yourself at a corner, hating your guts for reacting as you did.

We’ve all been guilty of this to some extent. It’s unfortunate we’re so reactive, yes. And to have been given such a low bar for patience, it’s understandable to think of it as a big character flaw. But no amount of pity or hating your guts will make you more patient and less reactive. For us to have fallen on the fiery temper distribution side of things is certainly not our fault, but it is our responsibility to do something about it.

One way to combat anger

It’s almost a given that your next dream will make no sense. At best, the plot will be weirdly interesting, but more often than not what we do or what happens makes no sense. Yet, we don’t stop to make sense of things mid-dream but simply go along with it. After waking we think, “Well, in the dream it all made sense, but now that I think of it, why did I do that? How did that happen? That was dumb.”

To be overpowered by anger is to enter a dream-like state. It’s continuing a dream while being awake. In such a state, your perception of reality is off; your senses are shaky, your reasoning is faulty, and your vision is cloudy. What’s certainly “true” is also deceiving; what taunted you isn’t real, but the consequences of your actions in such a state?
Oh, there’s nothing more real than the regret, pity, and self-loathing that comes in the aftermath.

“If only I hadn’t done that…”

Stop and get a hold of yourself. Remember that you’re in control, if so you wish. You don’t have to make a big deal out of this. You don’t have to have an opinion. You can instead just let it go. What’s upsetting you is like an unpleasant dream, and nothing more.
Realize this at once, before you turn it into a nightmare.