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Do you have a Funnel?

I read something about a month ago that for really ticked me off.  The comment upset me for multiple reasons:
- Because of who said it - someone I was previously close to
- Because of who they said it about - a group of people I associate with
- Because of what they said - a not so polite comment
- Because of how they said it - semi-anonymously online

After reading it I must admit that I became pretty angry and wanted to call them out on the comment.  But I also knew that was not the right thing to do.  So I took the comment as a challenge, a challenge to become anything but what they predicted.  Anger is one of many emotions that we can experience in life. 

If we're not careful, our emotions can take control of us.  Fear can cause us avoid opportunities and potential future successes.  Sadness can often times lead to depression.  But not all emotions are bad.  Joy leads us to happiness, peace, and fulfillment in life.  Anticipation is the hope that keeps us going through difficult times.  Emotions are very powerful internal moods and motivations that often drive us to be the people that we become.

As that anger festered and grew inside of me, I had several choices of how to deal with it.  I could lash out and blast the person who made the comment.  I could keep it all bottled up inside and risk it consuming me.  I could try to forget about it and let it go.  Or instead of the emotion using me, I could use it.

I chose to treat that anger like a funnel.  If you've ever tried to pour pre-workout powder into a water bottle you understand precisely what a funnel does.  It takes something that can go everywhere and make a sticky mess if you're not careful with it and moves it to exactly where it needs to be to make you better.

"Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil." - Ephesians 4:26-27

If something or somebody ticks you off, that's okay.  Use that anger as fuel, as motivation to achieve even more than you ever expected you could do!  You don't have to hurt them to make yourself better.

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