The Invisible Mentor

A Poison Tree by William Blake

 I was angry with my friend.

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe.

I told it not, my wrath did grow;

And I water’d it in fears,

Night and morning with my tears;

And I sunned it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles;

And it grew both day and night

Till it bore an apple bright,

And my foe beheld it shine,

And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole

When the night had veil’d the pole.

In the morning glad I see

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

When you read the William Blake poem above, what emotions does it evoke in you?

I felt sadness when I read it. We so often wear our anger with righteous indignation. If you are completely honest with yourself, on a scale of one to 10, how do you score on letting go?

Letting go is something that I struggle with. Because of this, I work harder at it – negative emotion cause stress, which kills. So whenever I am feeling angry, anxious, worried or fearful, and feel that accompanying tightening in my chest, that’s my cue that I need to let go.

I quickly go into Alpha and slow down my brain waves. The deep breathing also calms me down. There are times when I will call a friend to talk through the situation, and I often see another completely different perspective.

What techniques do you use to let go, or even diffuse anger, fear and anxiety? If you don’t have one, talk to a friend to get another perspective or go into Alpha. If you have techniques at your fingertips, the next time you’re angry with someone you can easily resolve the situation instead of wishing them ill will.

You cannot truly be creative if you’re angry, anxious or fearful. And you cannot be your best self if you’re are distracted by anger, fear, worry or anxiety. This poem is a reminder to me, and it is a reminder to you, to practice tolerance, be kind, forgive and always try to find your center.

Click here to read other William Blake poems.

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