On Monday morning, we all woke up to the “slap heard ’round the world.” Will Smith slapped Chris Rock during the Oscar ceremonies after Rock made a comment about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. I am not condoning, nor excusing, Smith’s violent behavior, but I would like to dissect it, just a bit, for our own edification.

Anger is not a primary emotion, it’s a secondary emotion that is typically fueled by fear or sadness. In Smith’s case, maybe both emotions triggered his unacceptable outburst, feeling as though his wife was being publicly embarrassed in front of millions of people given her struggle with alopecia.

Take a look at either yourself or someone else, close to you, who is exhibiting some angry behavior, and dig deeper—look for the fear or the sadness, or both. If we are able to find the fear or the sadness, then maybe we can view the person and the situation with a little more compassion than we did before? Again, I will never condone violence—EVER, but I hope understanding anger as a secondary emotion allows us to view our situations a little bit differently today. Dissect some of your own situations today and see what you find—it might prove interesting.

Let’s GO! WE GOT THIS!

Beth