The other day I read it in the news paper that a businessman from Dwarka in Delhi has thrown his child of 6-7 years from the balcony of his flat on fourth floor. The reason as told by the cops was that he had a heated argument with his wife the previous night. And also he had a history of being short tempered. We all know that how powerful one becomes in the rage of anger. The power of anger has destroyed so many people in the world. So what happens on thought level when one is in a fit of anger? Imagine when you are absolutely in a fit of rage and some body comes to you and tries to convince you that you are wrong. How would you react to when somebody tries to teach you about positive thinking at that moment? What are the odds that you wouldn’t hit him in the head with the first thing you can grab in your hand? Of course we all know how bad anger is for us but when it comes, it comes as a tornado and we can’t stop it. It is an evident fact that emotional force is far more powerful than the thought. Anger is a negative emotion, though powerful but harmful. It consumes energy. 

The other extreme of anger is non-violence. It is a positive emotion. We all know that Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out a train in South Africa. Now imagine yourself in his position. You can imagine how angry one can be in such a situation. I for one would have killed a white man or two for doing this to me. History says that Gandhi was so angry that he said that, “Today you have thrown me out of a train tomorrow I will throw you out of my country”, and so he did. Mohandas Gandhi had a history of being short tempered.

But he didn’t use his anger to throw the British out of his country. He probably would not have succeeded using his anger, and he would have probably remained known as Mohandas. Mohandas used his positive emotions of patience and non-violence substituting his anger and became Mahatma. He converted his anger in patience and thrown the British out of India. Who would have thought that a lean looking man like him has so much energy and power to influence millions of people and topple a government? The fact of the matter is that there is a huge difference between Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Mahatma Gandhi. You would not find a better example of emotional stability on the face of the planet. 

These days when our politicians claim to be Gandhivaadi, it is evident that they are clueless about Gandhi. They are not even close to what Gandhi thought about. It would not help to be Gandhivaadi from the bottom of your thought; you will have to become Gandhi on your emotional level. 

Patience is a powerful emotion, we all know that but the question is how to raise it from its current level and how to inculcate it in our lives? How would be the journey from Anger to Patience? Of course we will discuss it further in the book. Meanwhile remember Emotion is the fountainhead of success.