As a reinvention expert, I am often honored to lead others on a path of self-discovery as they embark on the next chapter in their lives. Among other exercises, one I highly recommend for those who “don’t have a clue” as to what they want to do next is this: while you are watching the news or reading the papers, look for what it is that irks you in the world; what angers you; what enrages you. Now it may be a long list.
The point is not to get angry and stay there. The point is that you are looking for ways that you can serve the world and make a difference. The point is to turn righteous anger into passion.
The late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. certainly had every reason in the world to be angry about the rampant racism he witnessed and experienced. Fortunately for all of us, he rose above his just anger, and led a non-violent movement that changed the world.
I know a young woman who has been so outraged by the Jodi Arias capital murder trial, that she is working on a degree in forensics to make a difference in the criminal justice system.
On a personal note, a few years ago I turned my outrage about child sexual abuse into a career in the prevention and healing of that issue.
Call me Pollyanna, but I fervently believe that there is always a purpose for pain, and an appropriate place to put it.