Seneca called anger a brief madness—it feels powerful in the moment and almost always costs more than it's worth. He noticed that anger promises to fix things and rarely does; it mostly damages what we care about and leaves us ashamed. He didn't say to suppress your feelings. He said don't let the first flare make your decisions. When something provokes you today, you can feel the heat and still not act from it. Step back. Let the wave crest and fall. Then choose, from a clearer place, what's actually worth doing. Most of what anger urges us to do, we'd undo an hour later if we could.

Inspired by the old idea of response not reaction. Written by Ugo Charles.