Anger Management

So I was thinking the other day about anger management.  My job makes me crackers on a daily basis, so I was trying to think of little things I could do to help myself calm down in those moments when I am more inclined to snap someone like a twig.

Count to ten.  That was my first idea.  But I hold hammers and other sharp tools while I work that could certainly be mistaken for weapons, so I tried to think of something to do with my hands.

Count to ten with my fingers.  Simply place my tools in my work drawer and open my hands completely.  Slowly as I count to ten, I can curl my fingers in.  

ONE...pinky in.  

TWO...ring finger in.

All the way up to ten.  Great!  Except as I pictured this in my head, I realized that this method would cause me to not only be angry, but have both hands curled into fists.  Very conducive to releasing aggression, but definitely not in the correct manner.

Ok, wrong direction, I thought.

Perhaps I can start with my hands in fists, and UNcurl a finger with each number as I count to ten.  Again I did this in my head to see how it would work.  I ended up with two empty hands, palms up.  Success!  I marveled at this, and with my mind's eye examined these newly relaxed empty hands.  I thought how nice they looked.  I slowly turned them over, thumbs inward.

Have you ever looked at your hands, slightly relaxed, with both thumbs pointed inward?  

As it turns out, this is the exact position your hands need to be in grab someone by the throat and shake them like a rag doll.

Sigh.  

Perhaps I will leave anger management techniques to the professionals.