During this particular pandemic, there are lots of people I'm understandably angry at:
- People turning mask-wearing into a political issue instead of a simple way to slow the spread.
- Young adults so eager to pretend life is back to normal, they're spreading the virus without knowing it.
- The "greatest country of the world" doing far too little while countries across the ocean responded fast and won.
- Old white people clashing with protestors and police to protect a statue of one of history's better known genocidal idiots.
- Nintendo for making controllers that keep drifting, and threatening my best source of quarantine entertainment.
- The state of Florida for continuing to exist.
But I remember this quote from one of the few self-help books I enjoy, How to Stop Worrying and Stop Living.
When we hate our enemies, we are giving them power over us: power over our sleep, our appetites, our blood pressure, our health, our happiness. Our enemies would dance with joy if they only knew how they were worrying us, lacerating us, and getting even with us! Our hate is not hurting them, but our hate is turning our own days and nights into a hellish turmoil.
Anger is good when it inspires us to action. But even then, relying on it too can be too heavy a sacrifice. As angry as I feel about many things, it shouldn't be the main thing getting me out of bed each day.