Chapter Eight Get Mad, Not Even

Revenge is unhealthy and unproductive. Learn to move on.

In the years following the 2000 election, Al Gore always looked mad. He constantly seemed upset. I suspect he continued to smart over the fact that he received more popular votes than rival George Bush, but the Electoral College vote went to Bush after the Supreme Court ruled Bush had won Florida.

Many of us are like that. We have been injured emotionally at one time or another, in one way or another—hurt by family, friends, business colleagues, news media, politicians, whatever—and the bitter urge to strike back becomes our first reaction.

We want to do what Ensign Pulver did in the movie Mister Roberts. He tossed a large, homemade firecracker into the ship’s ...

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