# Time your anger — try to beat your record

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Analogy
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-anger-timer-beat-your-record
- Themes: anger, mindfulness, humour, metaphor
- Life situations: chronic irritability, wanting to stop blaming

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

A teacher tells someone who always gets angry: next time, put a clock in front of you and see how long you can stay angry — try to beat your record. Destigmatising the anger and turning attention inside makes it hard to stay angry for long.

## The story, as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

see how long you can be angry for see if you can beat your record and straight away what it was actually doing it was actually destigmatizing anger and straight away such a stupid thing to do put a clock out there and see how long you can be angry for it can't be angry very long

## Teaching point

Watching anger as a timed event interrupts blaming and shrinks it.

## Reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

A teacher told a hot-tempered student to put a clock in front of himself next time and try to beat his record for staying angry. It's hard to stay angry long that way. Timing it turns your attention from the person you blame to the feeling inside. Watched with mindfulness, anger soon softens, sometimes into laughter.

## Source

- [Understanding suicide | Ajahn Brahm | 06-02-2015](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqPCMJH5Emk) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 13:32 to 13:59: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqPCMJH5Emk&t=812s