There’s a difference.  We can be justifiably angry at something without developing hatred.  Anger can be sparked by watching our own, or others’, rights, dignity, and even lives robbed by the powers that be.  Anger can also be sparked by recognizing when others fall short of expectations.  But anger can be a powerful motivator, also.  Anger can spur us into actions against societal injustices, as well as giving us an everyday motive to do our best.

Hatred, on the other hand, seeks to dehumanize.  It has the potential to cause us to see others not as fellow human beings, but as animals, or insects, or aliens, or things….and such thoughts make it easier to mistreat others, or perhaps do even worse things.

It’s important to understand that even healthy anger, if left to fester or remain unchallenged, can become embittered into hatred.  This is not a good result, and obviously should not be encouraged.  So how do we break away from this potential result?  Well, you’ll probably get a different answer to that question from everyone you ask.  There’s no real right answer.  Everyone deals with anger in a different way, some quite well, others, maybe not so much.

There’s an old saying….never go to bed angry.  While that saying is often applied to relationships, the fact is, our minds tend to turn short-term memories into long-term memories when we sleep.  Thus, if you are unable to shed your anger before you sleep, there’s a risk of stepping onto that road of anger turning into embittered hatred.  Work hard to avoid that!

Use your anger for positive results, or let it go.  But don’t let it fester into hatred.