When's the last time you got really mad?

“I was in a meeting where a discussion was going on which finally became rather bitter. Tempers were becoming frayed and some of the participants were decidedly on edge. Sharp remarks were passed. Suddenly one man arose, deliberately took off his coat, opened his collar, and lay down upon a couch. All were astonished, and someone asked if he felt ill.

‘No,’ he said, ‘I feel fine, but I am beginning to get mad, and I have learned that it is difficult to get mad lying down.’

We all laughed, and the tension was broken. Then our whimsical friend went on to explain that he had ‘tried a little trick’ with himself. He had a quick temper, and when he felt himself getting mad he found that he was clenching his fist and raising his voice, so he deliberately extended his fingers, not allowing them to form into a fist. In proportion to the rising of his tension or anger, he depressed his voice and talked in exaggerated low tones. ‘You cannot carry on an argument in a whisper,’ he said with a grin.

This principle can be effective in controlling emotional excitements, fretting and tension, as many have discovered by experimentation. A beginning step, therefore, in achieving calmness is to discipline your physical reactions. You will be surprised at how quickly this can reduce the heat of your emotions, and when emotional heat is driven off, fuming and fretting subside. You will be amazed at the energy and power you will save. You will be much less tired.”

- Norman Vincent Peale
The Power of Positive Thinking