Mind Management: Managing Anger, Jealousy, and Self-Interest with Wisdom
Mind – A “Peace Ashram” or a Wrestling Arena?
Often the question arises: in our large body, such a small brain—what to even say about the mind within? It’s constantly filled with 24/7 thoughts like gusts of wind. It’s no “peace ashram.” It’s a wrestling arena, where endless internal conflicts and competitions go on day and night.
Or is the mind a Resolution Center?
But the choice is ours—to let the mind remain a chaotic arena or to shape it into a peace ashram or a resolution center.
What the mind is, and what it can become—that’s for us to decide. But who are we to decide? Isn’t that determined by a higher power?
As Rajesh Khanna famously said in the film Anand:
“We are all mere puppets on the stage of life, our strings controlled by the Almighty. No one knows who will be lifted when and how.”
Haha…!
Emotions – Freelancers with Lifetime Contracts
In reality, we’re all performers. I believe our body is an auditorium, the mind is the stage, and emotions are the actors. Joy, hope, enthusiasm perform with grace, while anger, jealousy, sadness, and loneliness bring conflict. Each emotion strives to give its best performance. And here’s the truth—they’re not even on our payroll. They are all freelancers, yet they act as if they are on lifetime contracts, because those contracts were made by the divine. We can’t revoke or terminate them.
Our Condition – Like the Washerman’s Dog
We are so caught up in default-mode living that we don’t write our own life’s script. Emotions act on their own, each behaving like it owns the stage, delivering whatever dialogue they please. They try to take control of us. In the end, we are left like the proverbial washerman’s dog—belonging neither at home nor at the riverside.
The truth is—positive emotions like love, compassion, respect, and empathy are essential. But so are negative ones like anger, jealousy, and selfishness.
Just like in food—if you had to eat the same vegetable every day, how long could you continue? Or what if your meals were only desserts? You would eventually crave change.
The Human Condition – Craving Change
Sweet and sour both add flavor to food. Similarly, emotions like joy and hope alongside anger, envy, and sadness are essential. Without pain, you can’t appreciate happiness. Live through the night smiling and laughing, and you’ll welcome the sunrise with even more joy.
The only thing required is to live with wisdom.
Anger – Fire or Alarm?
Just as love isn’t meant to be expressed anytime, anywhere, anger also doesn’t need to be unleashed everywhere.
Anger shouldn’t just be an outburst. It should serve as an indicator—to investigate the root cause. Then, it’s justified.
Jealousy – Fire or Fuel – or Alarm?
When your neighbor buys a new car and you’re still driving your old scooter, it’s natural to feel jealous.
But if that jealousy turns into thoughts of breaking their windshield—that’s an alarm.
Feeling envy is human, but scripting a crime in your mind? That’s a red alert.
Self-Interest – The Emergency Oxygen Mask
Without a sense of self-interest, one becomes a saint.
But until you’re labeled selfish, having self-interest is not only acceptable but necessary.
Just like in an airplane emergency—you must put on your own oxygen mask before helping others. Otherwise, you’ll save no one.
Emotions Must Flow
In short—expressing emotions is absolutely essential.
But the key is to express them only where needed, in the right quantity, and where they can be understood.
And where you have the strength to handle the consequences.
If anger erupts on a loved one, the relationship may break. If it erupts on a stranger or an enemy, it can turn into hostility.
And if a third-party witnesses this mess—congratulations, your poster will go viral… even in Antarctica! Your image, ruined.
We Know Nothing Happens Without Divine Will
Anger is natural. When it can’t be expressed outwardly, it often gets unleashed on the self or on loved ones.
But remember: anger is usually directed more at a situation than a person. Understanding this helps.
Keep the Remote of Your Emotions in Your Hand
All emotions are going to stay with us—forever. They’ll keep knocking, now and then. If suppressed too long, they’ll burst out in ways we can’t control. That’s why it’s essential that we hold the remote.
Know when and how much to express.
Emotions should be shown to those capable of understanding them.
Don’t Let Emotions Become Autocrats
If emotions are not released, they stagnate like stale water.
They begin to stink.
These repressed emotions can suffocate and break us from within.
Life must be a balance of sweet and sour. If you want to enjoy spring, you must be willing to endure autumn. Every season teaches something.
Before emotions become dictators, we must learn to read them.
They’re not our enemies, they’re our teachers.
Yes, I Get Angry. Yes, I’m Jealous. Yes, I Think Selfishly.
Even if we don’t publicly admit it, we must internally acknowledge:
“Yes, I get angry. Yes, I’m jealous. Yes, I seek my own benefit in most things. I’m human.”
But also realize—emotions need not be instantly expressed. They shouldn’t multiply unchecked.
Pause before reacting. Delay a bit. Understand why that emotion arose.
Don’t be like Twitter, reacting instantly. These emotions don’t hurt us. Our overreactions to them do.
Our mind reacts faster than it delivers.
But we forget—this isn’t an online purchase with a return policy.
Usually, all that’s left is only regret.
Signature
Build a speed breaker for anger.
Treat jealousy like a fire alarm.
Use self-interest as a recharge station.
