As a grandparent or just an individual how do you react when others get angry with you?

Karen Best Wright, Health Educator and Author

www.RaisingYourGrandchildren.com

www.TheWellnessWay.org

I communicate with many grandparents who are raising grandchildren. Way too many experience their own anger and those who are angry at them. It is hard for me to understand that a family member can be angry with a grandparent for spending their effort raising a grandchild (unless it is the resentful parent), but it happens. I have known of the grandparents' other grown children being angry. I know of spouses who get angry and even ex-spouses believe it or not. Many of these angry people don't even want to care for the children themselves. They simply want to find fault and be angry. So when I recently was faced with someone's anger because I chose to take two teenage granddaughters to finish raising, I had a choice. First I felt crushed and cried, and then I realized that the person was simply an angry person. I am sure I am not the only person this individual shows an angry attitude towards. All he wanted to see were my faults.

So while I contemplated about my hurt feelings. I realized my heart was saying to me, "Do NOT let someone else's anger seep into your soul. Let it go and let yourself be free. I found this graphic (sorry I do not know who designed this graphic, but I felt it fit perfectly to my thoughts. Sometimes I have to breathe deeply and let myself feel the hurt feelings or the anger that might have been stirred in me and feel them flow out and and away from me. Unless, you have personally wronged an individual and need to own up to it, just remember he/she may just be a sad angry person. It will bring you more peace.

Karen Best Wright, Author and Health & Wellness Coach

Grandmother raising teenage grandchildren

Comments

[Karen]

Roberta,
Personally, I think you should steer clear of your father when starts "letting loose" on you. You do not need to subject yourself to someone else's anger, even if it is your father. Obviously, this is my opinion.

[Roberta]

This comes to me at a perfect time. My elderly father has been letting loose on me lately that I am ignoring him in order to care for my teenage grandson. It is not true but it is how he sees it. He has always been an angry person and now I see that. Thank you.