It's been a 'Fascinating' week – 'fascinating' in the sense used by Mr Spock on the original Star Trek. No matter how impossible the situation the crew of the Starship Enterprise was facing, the only F-word that Mr Spock would use was, "Fascinating!" People died, Spock said, "Fascinating!" Half the Enterprise ripped away by a Klingon Battlecruiser, Spock said, "Fascinating!" Aliens try to fry the brains of everyone on board, you guess it, Spock said, "Fascinating!"

'Fascinating' is a power word. It keeps you open to possibilities, to learning, and to a resourceful mindset. It's almost good enough to be the eleventh Moodscope Card!

The first week of October had been one of the best of my life. It might even have been the best. My Dad paid for an amazing place to stay in Devon, and we immersed ourselves in Nature for a week. Luxurious baths, scented candles, and a thousand Canada Geese taking off in formation, all worked their magic.

Then came last week. Nothing majorly went wrong, but a thousand little things did - one for every goose the week before. And they built up. If week 1 of October was 'light', then week 2 was 'darkness.'

The fascinating thing for me was that I felt anger building up like never before... to the point of rage. I actually got to the point where I couldn't contain it. The tipping point was well-resourced clients wilfully withholding payment so that they could pressure me to do more work for nothing. Hmm, that was motivating... not.

I exploded.

I'm a great believer that everything must be bent to serve our higher purpose. I don't believe everything happens for a purpose, nor that it all works out in the end – lost too many friends to cancer to believe that fairy-tale. But I do believe I have the mental muscle to force value out of every situation.

This belief allows me to step back from the non-sense and injustice and observe... watching for the lesson. With Spock, I said, "Fascinating!"

The lesson in last week's RAGE is that it is counterfeit. My anger is a mask. It is a mask for a deeper emotional state: fear.

I am afraid.

Anger is just one wrapping for fear.

Overeating, binge-drinking, you name it, there are a thousand wrappers available.

Thus, for me, at least, dealing with my anger is treating the symptom, not the cause.

This is where I stop and say, "Fascinating!" And then I ask you, "How do YOU deal with fear?"

Lex

A Moodscope member.