It is downright terrifying to find out that you are the villain that you’ve been trying to vanquish. This was my epiphany as I sat wedged in my mangled truck that was now lying crumpled and upside down in a ditch. I had let anger take the driver’s seat like so many times before. I realized my troubles were not the result of the negative events in my life. My problem was me. Something had to change.

As I began to embark upon the journey to disintegrate my anger mask and be truer to myself, it became clear that I have a choice. We all have a choice. We must set ourselves free by unlocking the doors to our deepest authentic emotions and allowing them to surface. Only then can we deal with them appropriately. And once those flood gates come crashing down, we must make another big choice in deciding how to address the roots of our anger in a healthy productive manner even when it feels like we are drowning in them. Otherwise, we are doomed to repeat a cycle of suppressing our emotions and forcing ourselves back inside a dungeon where the light of hope, success, health, and happiness is snuffed out by an abyss of anger. And once the light is gone, all we are left holding is all the nails we will ever need to seal our own coffins.