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Why Are We All so Angry with Each Other?

William Malone
4 min readDec 21, 2020

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The Search for Civility, Kindness and Compassion.

A bearded man wearing a wool hat and dark jacket on a subway platform, holding a sign that says “Seeking Human Kindness”
Photo by Matt Collamer on Unsplash

I have heard it said that in times of crisis, stress or hardship a person’s “true colours” or character is revealed — I believe this to be true.

In today’s world there are any number of things which can test our limits and expose gaps, vulnerabilities or cracks in our proverbial armour. This constant stressing of the system and the players in it (us), can cause us to react in a myriad of ways — Some of them good, others not so much.

A university professor friend of mine who teaches organizational behaviour and change management at a prominent Canadian university once said to me, it’s never about what it’s about. She said this in the context of why people and organizations become stressed and unbalanced when they undergo major changes. Initially I had no idea what she was talking about.

That phrase has remained with me ever since and over time I have gained a better understanding of what it means. The crux of it is this, on any given day all of us are impacted by a constellation of things and events which can impact on our mood and behaviour. For example, before leaving the house to go to work one morning you have a heated argument with your spouse or significant other about the garbage not being taken out. Result, you leave the house pi$$ed off

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William Malone
William Malone

Written by William Malone

Retired law enforcement officer, author, speaker, husband and very proud father.

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