Whether you write the letter to yourself or to someone else, therapeutic letter writing is a safe place to vent your anger and relieve your stress.  (A therapeutic letter is one you write, but don’t send.)  File the letter where no one else will find it.

Or, when it no longer serves a purpose, burn it or tear it up.  A journal to yourself is for your eyes only, or for those who would not be judgmental and who truly understand you.  Journals are wonderful for writing about all of your feelings.

Here are a few thoughts about writing letters and journals:

• Write a therapeutic letter to the person with whom you are angry, leave no holds barred.  Either take the letter to your therapy or support group, or keep it in a safe place.  Re-write the letter occasionally and read it to yourself or to someone you can trust.
• Writing letters can be quite an effective way to express yourself, even if your writing to people who are deceased.  The purpose is more for you to see what is truly in your own heart than to reveal information to someone else.
• If you are feeling angry with yourself for staying stuck or putting up with a situation too long, write a forgiveness letter to yourself.
• Place a ring on your right index finger and speak what you want to release.  Put your energy into “releasing”…ahhh doesn’t that feel good!

Forgiving yourself is one of the finest acts of healing you can do.  Write about lessons you have learned and vow not to repeat the mistakes over again.  However, if you do repeat the same mistakes, forgive yourself again.  Life is for learning, and if no mistakes are made, no real learning takes place.

Remember the quote by Marcel Proust, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes?”

Often, feelings of anger will give us new eyes, if we are willing to look at things differently and without judging them as “bad”.  Look at tough situations as challenges that give your life color and depth.