157. Rage or Resignation

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Hello darling heart. And welcome to this episode of the drink less live better podcast. This is a podcast that helps you to

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see that drinking less doesn't need to be stressful, lonely, or boring. I'm your host, Sarah Williamson, and I decided to

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have a year alcohol free as a little life experiment and haven't looked back. I'm a best selling author, expert speaker, and

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life coach. I'm here to champion you with your alcohol free or drink less adventures. Give me a follow on Instagram at drink

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less experiment, find blog posts, and you can choose to join the email club where I share resources, wisdom, insights, and

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glimmers of hope and joy. I hope you enjoy this episode. Let's get straight to it. Episode 157, rage or resignation. I've

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been thinking a lot about the two emotions, rage and resignation. I've been wondering if they were opposite or similar emotional

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states. I was also thinking about how rage felt like a very active emotion, and resignation felt more passive. Perhaps rage

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feels action orientated, and resignation feels still, and perhaps a bit lifeless. Aggressive versus passive, Neither are bad

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feelings. Neither are good feelings. Drive, action, and passion may follow on from them. Anyway, what are the commonalities

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that I thought of? I'm so glad you asked. Here we go. Number 1, emotional exhaustion. Both rage and resignation can stem from

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a place of emotional exhaustion. In the case of rage, perhaps it's the culmination of frustration, anger, and feeling massively

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overwhelmed by a situation. Resignation, on the other hand, often arises when you feel defeated and drained, unable to muster

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the energy to continue fighting against adversity. In both cases, there's a sense of being worn down and worn out. The fight

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has been fought. You are either raging or resigned. Either way, you're probably knackered. Number 2, loss of control. Rage

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and resignation both involve a sense of losing control, albeit in different ways. In rage, there's a loss of control over

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your anger and impulses, maybe leading to outbursts or aggressive behaviour. In resignation, there's a loss of control over

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the situation or the outcome, where you feel powerless to change things despite your best efforts. Loss of control is, of

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course, an interesting thought in itself. Did we ever really have control in the 1st place, or did we just think we did? Number

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3, stress. Both rage and resignation can be manifestations of stress. In rage, stress may present outwardly as explosive anger

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or hostility. In resignation, stress may manifest inwardly as feelings of hopelessness or apathy or apathy. Whatever the expression,

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whether it's external or internal, the underlying stress contributes to that sense of overwhelm and impending doom. Number

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4, response to injustice. Both emotions can be responses to perceived injustices or real injustices. Rage often arises in

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response to immediate acute injustices that provoke a real visceral reaction. Resignation, on the other hand, may develop

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over time in response to systematic or persistent injustices that seem insurmountable. In both cases, there's a recognition

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of unfairness or inequality that contributes to feelings of frustration and disillusionment. The injustices I have felt most

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recently have left me moving quickly from initial hot blooded rage and a desire to go all in and fight to almost instantly,

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what's the point? Shoulder shrugging. This is too big and too unwieldy for me to tackle. Number 5, impact on relationships.

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Both rage and resignation constrain relationships with others. In the heat of rage, you may lash out, causing rifts and conflicts.

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In a state of resignation, you may withdraw or disengage, leading to feelings of isolation or alienation. In both cases, the

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intensity of the emotion can make it difficult to maintain healthy connections, exacerbating your feelings of loneliness.

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While rage and resignation may manifest differently on the surface, they do share common themes of emotional distress, loss

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of control, and response to adversity. I've been thinking of rage and resignation more this week because I've seen them bubbling

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to the surface in others. I've seen people trying to push these feelings away, deny them, reframe them, and dismiss them.

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They're just emotions like any other. They're meant to be felt in full technicolour, and it's so much better to talk about

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these feelings than to box them up and try to put them away. Be kind to yourself. Express your rage. Express your resignation.

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Campaign for the thing you're furious about. Write in a journal about the injustice you feel. Express yourself through art,

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poetry, music. Find the understanding, listening and empathetic ear you need and talk about how you feel, or drop me an email.

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Type it all out. Press send. Let it land gently in my inbox. I'll reply by typing voice note or video, and we'll both know

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you've put those feelings somewhere safe, somewhere they've been heard and noted. Thank you for listening in today. Come back

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again next week. Today's show notes include a link to the alcohol free April program and to my 90 day program. PS. I believe in you.