How to Heal Anger, Misery, and Self Pitying / Michal Ron

In the Grinberg Method we describe the different aspects of life and character according to the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air.

Fire would be anger, for example.

Water would be the more introvert emotions. For exmple, feeling miserable.

Most of us acknowledge what seems to be the duality in life – good and bad, light and darkness, masculine and feminine, active and passive.

These are no real good and bad, but rather yin and yang – those sides that are considered more positive in a certain society, in a certain time, in a certain place, and their opposites.

Actually, each and every side, the ‘positive’ as well as the ‘negative’, has its own qualities, and we need to own both qualities in order to be whole. We want to be able to be both good and bad, both masculine and feminine, both active and passive. What we strive for is not one side, but temprance, balance, harmony between the two extremities.

Anger would be considered as the ‘negative’ side of fire, while its ‘positive’ side would be love, for example.

Misery would be considered as the ‘negative’ side of water, while its ‘positive’ side would be sensitivity, for example.

The way to ‘overcome’ anger, misery, and self-pitying is not by trying to ‘overcome’ them, but by seeing them for what they are – the ‘negative’ or ‘dark’ side of love and sensitivity. Those who allow themselves to love also get angry at times. Those who use their ability to feel sensitive feel miserable or pity themselves once in a while.

Instead of fighting it we could feel those in our bodies, and let them flow and enrich ourselves. There is no need to express those on the outside, only let ourselves feel how they full-fill our ‘other’, more introvert, half of us, and rejoice in that.