Calm, Cool, and Collected

In general, I am not an angry person; I am very good at letting things brush off, never letting maddening situations affect me more than slightly. Things that irritate almost all people tend to have little effect on me: traffic on the parkway, homework assignments, little siblings, older siblings, parents, bullies. Anger and I are not too familiar with each other. I don’t like to be angry, and I feel it only makes situations worse. Even if the situation is something like traffic, anger couldn’t make it any worse, but it also will do nothing to make the situation better. Getting angry only makes you angry. Why waste your time with it?

Even if I want to be angry at someone or something, I tend to forgive and forget rather quickly. I actually have to work to stay angry. Every time I manage to actually become angry, the frustration and madness soon dissolves away. Whether it is consciously, or more often subconsciously, anger skillfully escapes me whenever we meet.

There are also different levels of angry. The above paragraph describes the most severe level of anger I can reach – not very high – and is a level rarely seen. More often is the level of things I see on a daily basis that make me angry at people. This includes all kinds of things, including some that really shouldn’t make me mad. For example, when an overweight person, often morbidly obese, gets into one of those motorized shopping carts at ShopRite, that makes me angry. There are two reasons. First being the simple and obvious fact that they are having trouble walking because they are overweight. Sitting in a motorized cart is only making it worse. You could use the exercise tubby, get up and carry you groceries and maybe you’ll lose a few pounds. Secondly, and much more importantly, is that those motorized shopping carts were made for a specific reason. They’re not for fat people to be lazy, they’re made for elderly or injured people that are incapable of walking around the store on foot. They need the cart. The overweight people need the exercise.

The only other thing that I can think of that makes me mad is highly egotistical people. These are people with an unreasonable and strong sense of entitlement and superiority. I run into this kind of people quite often in and out of school. I don’t know what makes people think they are better than others, especially when there is a very minor accomplishment involved. Just because your team won in kickball doesn’t mean you’re better than everyone else, or just because you’re a math teacher doesn’t mean you’re a good one or that you’re superior to me in any and all fields. (Yes I have a specific person in mind writing this)

I wouldn’t say I get angry exactly, but more accurately I would say I get aggravated or annoyed. The things that irritate me are few and far between, although when there is a situation that does fall into the category of aggravating, I tend to make it aware, calmly and respectfully of course, that that is not pleasing to me.

If I had to advise someone about anger issues, the best advice I can give would be to let things go. Things only make you angry if you let them do so. Someone or something needs your permission to make you angry. Don’t permit them.

Amigos

   In my opinion, it is very important to have a few or even only one close friend rather than many acquaintances. The amount of friends is not what is important, but it is the quality of the friends that is. These are the kinds of friends that know the real you, and are always there for you. It is much better to have only one very good friend that is very close, than many "friends" that don't know the real you or truly care about you. You may go to a party or a football game and think, "All of these people are my friends," but stop and think for a second. How many of these people are actually your friends? How many would go pick you up if your car broke down an hour away? How many would give you a place to stay if you ran away from home? How many will be by your side during the bad times as well as the good? I bet the number of "friends" you can count would be substantially less.
   Although these people with hundreds of "friends" seem so happy to be so popular, do you think they really are that happy? Would you really rather have all that popularity, yet have no one to confide in or lean on when you need them? How alone must you feel if you are surrounded by friends, while at the same time not have a friend within miles. Tons of friends may seem glamorous and exciting, but the sad truth is that many people with so many friends are in fact the most lonely, trapped by their own popularity.
   In my opinion, those who accumulate many friends most likely do so because they want or need attention. The more "friends" they have, the more often the can be given attention by those people. Being the center of attention is easy when you are always surrounded by people you consider friends. Everywhere you go, there's someone to talk to, someone to hang out with, someone to sit next to in class. You never have to be alone, no matter where you are, because with so many friends, you become increasingly popular. These people idolize popularity, always looking for a way to gain more. It becomes a status symbol, a childish way to establsih your social rank. The more friends you have, the better you must be.
   I feel this way because I have had real friends, fake friends, and even in between friends, and I can honestly say, I would rather have one real friend for 5 minutes than 100 fake friends for an entire lifetime. Real friends are people you can be yourself around, and not try to be "cool". Real friends are an invaluable posession. They are worth more than everything you have and ever will have. Real friends should be family: caring, honest, helpful, and few.