Bucket list 24 – Deleting anger

March 2, 2014

Grandmother Lucy and I had many visits in which she would ask me why so much bloodshed, war, pestilence, and personal ankhs were represented in the scriptures. These discussions were on a highly rhetorical level since she knew the answer well and only wanted to address in ways that might assist us in living our lives more completely.

Anger and love are not necessarily antonyms; however, they represent the very ends of our limits to understand why we do what we do. When we love as God has asked us to do, we respect, honor, give of ourselves, and generally attempt to lighten the burdens of those for whom we have love. Could it be then that anger/hate are manifest through spite, disrespect, jealousy, fear, misunderstanding, and malice?

Instead of going back to the scriptures and the bad behavior of legions of people, let’s get right down personal and talk about some of the sad scenarios for which I am personally accountable. As we are all “rock heads” and tend to misbehave pretty consistently across the spectrum of humanity, I suspect that each of us have shared some of these indisputably inappropriate moments sometime in our lives.

Sometime in a person’s life he or she find it imperative to give up or leave certain career and life goals unfinished, at least in our minds. This has been my circumstance while trying to terminate my professional dealings in real estate. I was born and bred on real estate. My father, along with being a rancher, used real estate sales and brokerage as a means of creating his estate. I thoroughly enjoyed my activities with him related to land and other real property. While in the US Navy I took my first course in real estate through USAFI. When I was released from the service and began my college career at Arizona State University my major was real estate and I applied for my first real estate license when we lived at Sun Dale manor in downtown Phoenix in 1966. The point is that I have been drenched in the idea that real property is my way of life.

I have maintained my license as a window to the past and an opportunity to help my family and others secure and sell real estate. In March 2013 I got sick (again). I visited with my excellent broker at R and R realty, Mike and we determined that I could just put my license on inactive, resign from Utah County Board of Realtors; then resume my activities when I was better. All went well until I placed my license back in active status with R and R Realty and went down to UCAR to resume my membership and take a class. They informed me that even though my dues were paid up for another eight months that, not only would I have to pay for a class I needed to activate my license, I would have to pay $300 to reactivate my UCAR membership.

The circumstance made me what?  It made me angry. I did what angry people do and snapped back at them and saying things that certainly did not need to be said. Was I wronged? Who knows and who cares. The important thing is that instead of acting like a mature person, I struck out at them with the best device I have – the almighty pen.  I was born to do real estate. I had been making deals and having fun playing real estate monopoly for decades. How dare they make me jump through hoops like this?

Right now, Russia, Ukraine, United States, and other countries are pushing that very same noodle up the same hill. How dare the Russians come on Ukrainian territory? How dare the United States interfere in a regional battle? We must go to war to protect what? Oh, I see we must go to war to protect our personal pride. Go back to the Romans, the Moors, the Conquistadors, the Crusaders, the tribal wars, and even go back to Cain and Abel. Why did they fight in anger? Because their personal pride was dinged!

We can’t go back and correct the ills of the people in Caanan, in Rome, in Spain, in England, in Norway, in Iran, or in Jerusalem.  We can, however, correct our own anger problems. My resolution in bucket list item 24 is to rid myself of anger and learn to work with people, love people and move forward toward victory.

Thank you for all you do as you bless the lives of people around you by giving of your love and encouragement.

Duane Jacobs, grandfather, father, brother, cousin, uncle, and friend