Anger Management

Not every problem you have with your team can be resolved.  So, in an effort to keep you from killing everyone else on your team, here are a few helpful suggestions you might want to use to manage your anger.

• Squishy balls.  Use a squishy ball.  You know, those foam or beanbag things you're supposed to mangle in your hand to help you handle stress.  The most effective are the ones where the eyes bluge out of the head when you squeeze them.
• Counting.  Before you do or say anything rash, try counting to ten... slowly... in a foreign language... starting from negative five hundred.
• Distance.  Getting away from the object of you anger might help.  In some cars, this is impossible, but in a van you can remove yourself to the furthest back seat.  Or you can stay in the car when everyone else goes running off to hunt for the clue envelope, and enjoy some quiet time by yourself.
• Distraction.  Try focusing on something else.  Keep busy.  Don't give yourself time to be angry.  Each clue is a new opportunity to concentrate on something complex, so use these distraction to your benefit.
• Transference.  This technique has nothing to do with the psychological definition of the same term.  Just visualize putting your anger into an object that can be torn up or thrown away, and then imagine your anger disappearing with the object.
• Meditation.  Try emptying your mind.  (For some of you, this won't take long.)  Now, think of a peaceful place you once saw or would like to visit.  For example, try thinking of sunset over the Grand Canyon, with the shadows growing deeper and flowing like water into the cool recesses of the canyon beneath you.  And if that doesn't work, imagine pushing the object of your anger over the protective railing into the canyon.  Ahhhh, relaxing.
• Beer.  Enough said.  This works paticularly well for Matt, though he himself reminds all Get-a-Clue players that alcohol is in fact a drug, and has unpredictable effects.  Some people will get even more violent when drunk.  So, if you do use this powerful technique, remember to drink in moderation.