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The chief impediment to inner peace: unnecessary thought. If it’s negative, it’s unnecessary.

Anger

We think anger has something to do with what happens. It does not. Anger is our response to what happens. It’s all on us. A righteous rage? An admixture of religion and politics.

Ego

Ego needs an enemy, something to be against, in order to invigorate itself.

Wrong about everything

We do not easily (or ever!) divest ourselves of our opinions. Sometimes Life takes pity on us, slaps us upside the head and brings us face-to-face with this: “I’ve been wrong about everything.”

Impatience

Violence draws and holds our attention but it is pike-in-the-weeds impatience that represents anger in its most relentless and corrosive aspect.