Griffin Speaks

CONTROL YOUR ANGER

There have been five shootings this weekend in Montgomery, Alabama. I was shopping at a local grocery store when I overheard another customer discussing the deadly weekend. She asked the lady she was speaking with, “What is we’s going to do?” The other lady responded, “We’s gonna pray!” 

The police have made no arrest in the shootings, but they are in hot pursuit of the offenders. One victim was shot three times just before 2 a.m. in the 700 block of Graves Street. According to police reports the victim was gambling and drinking when an argument turned violent. He received a gunshot wound to the neck, right upper arm and his lower abdomen. 

A 14-year old girl was caught in crossfire at the McDonalds located 3801 East Blvd. Two men got into an argument around 11 p.m. Friday night when one of the men started shooting, striking the 14-year old girl in the stomach and grazing her finger. While this shooting was taking place a 19-year old man was standing with his friends in Trenholm Court Projects when a gunman ran out of the woods and started shooting. The victim was shot in the leg as he attempted to run. 

A man was shot on Happiness Avenue as he sat in his van late Friday morning. Eight hours later another man was shot at Trenholm Housing Projects. What can we do? 

We can learn to control our anger. Everyone knows what anger is, and we all have experienced it: whether as a fleeting annoyance or as down right madness. Anger controlled is completely normal. It is an emotion ordinarily a healthy one. It is when anger is not controlled that we see the rash of violence as we saw in Montgomery, Alabama this weekend. If you don’t control your anger, you will have problems at work and in your personal relationships. Just always remember: “Those whom the Gods choose to destroy, They first make mad!” 

I do not advocate that you suppress your anger to the extent that it is never expressed, because suppressed anger can lead to hypertension, high blood pressure, or depression. I suggest that you go to your local library or local bookstore and borrow or buy a book on anger management. There are many great books on the subject that can help you to learn how to reduce both your emotional feelings and the physiological arousal that anger causes. These books will teach you how to control your reactions. I guarantee you that if the offenders in the shootings this last weekend knew how to control their anger the events that occurred would not have occurred. When people get mad, they jump to conclusions. They act on conclusions. These conclusions are often wrong conclusions. I suggest that when you find yourself in a hot debate simply slow down and think through your responses. As Michael Jackson’s song lyric says: “Always think twice!” Don’t say the first thing that jumps into your head, but slow down and think about what you are going to say or do. At the same time, carefully listen to what the other person is saying and wait before you answer. 

If more people would have followed the above advice, the cemeteries and jails would be a lot less crowded in Montgomery, Alabama. Control your anger and Live! 

In the words of my dad, Dr. Melvin J. Griffin Sr., “Money isn’t everything, but its way ahead of whatever is in second place!” 

Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles by visiting his web page at www.greggriffin.com or write to him at P.O. Box 250194 Montgomery, Alabama 36125-0194.