Remaining Calm in an Angry World: How Some Cope

Iowa City, Iowa, resident Shaun Taylor had just entered his driveway when an unfamiliar truck pulled in behind him. While exiting his pickup truck, ready to relax after work, a man jumped out of the other vehicle shouting at him.

Taylor realized the man’s rage was due to a misunderstanding over a traffic sign. He immediately dropped his tool belt on the front seat and raised his palms to show that he meant the stranger no harm. While still yelling, the man kept getting closer. As Taylor tried to back away, the man struck him in the face.

“For a second, it was difficult to think like a Christian,” Taylor said. “The world is getting more difficult to live in. There’s less patience.”

In fact, a Gallup Poll found higher levels of stress, sadness, anger, and worry in 2020 than ever before at any point in the organization’s global tracking.

Whether victim or observer, an encounter with aggressive or angry behavior can catch anyone off guard. Experts say remaining calm is key to ensuring that a precarious situation doesn't escalate. Anger management expert Ryan Martin’s advice in Psychology Today was, “Stay calm, stay safe, and don’t make it worse.”

That was just what Taylor did when he resisted the urge to retaliate.

“It’s a benefit to be taught by [God],” he said, citing practical advice he was grateful to have recalled from the Bible and his congregation meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Taylor’s neighbors immediately came to his defense and scared the man off.

Today, he drives with a constant reminder in his truck that helps him to remain calm when provoked.

“Bible principles help me to understand how to act,” Taylor said. “So I keep a sticky note on my dash with just the first two words of 1 Corinthians 14:1: ‘Pursue love.’”

Frontline workers, airline personnel, educators and others can attest to a trend of increased aggression, even becoming targets.

For fire inspector Roy La Grone of Grand Rapids, Michigan, such volatile situations have posed a particular challenge. “I’ve had a hard time controlling my anger since I was a kid,” he acknowledged.

On his first day back, after a four-month medical leave that ended in early 2021, he made a simple suggestion to the owner of the factory he was inspecting. In a split second, the man erupted into a verbal rant riddled with profanities.

To La Grone, the walk of 150 feet to reach the exit door felt like an eternity. The business owner followed him, yelling the entire way, while the office staff stared in stunned disbelief.

“I did everything that I could to try to calm him down,” La Grone said. “I didn’t overreact because I’ve learned that that type of behavior does not help the situation.”

Over the years, La Grone said he has worked hard to minimize his temper. He said that resources from jw.org were particularly useful in dealing with stress, controlling his anger and remaining calm rather than becoming provoked.

“Imitating the good examples of others and applying Bible principles has helped me to remain calm when under pressure,” he said.

More information on how to control anger when provoked is available at jw.org, the official website of Jehovah’s Witnesses.