Where the Fire Began — How Your Story Shapes Your Anger
TRIGGERS, PATTERNS & CHOICE: WHERE ANGER BEGINS
Recognizing roots without surrendering responsibility.
“The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.” — Proverbs 20:5
🔁 REPEATED PATTERNS DON’T MEAN POWERLESSNESS
Your past may shape your responses, but it doesn't dictate your decisions. Life experiences influence, but never excuse.
🧬 STORY MEETS SIN NATURE
We all carry a personal history and a sin nature — a combination that fuels blind spots, assumptions, and overreactions.
🔥 ANGER STYLES
Entitlement-Based: Forms when accountability is avoided
Insecurity-Based: Grows from rejection, neglect, or comparison
These styles may look different — but both can fracture trust and communication.
💔 RELATIONAL FALLOUT
When anger goes unnoticed or unacknowledged, it leaks into:
Marriages
Friendships
Parenting
Ministry
Unchecked, it damages what we value most.
🧠 TYPES OF ANGER
Aggressive: Control and intimidation
Passive-Aggressive: Hidden hostility
Avoidant: Emotional withdrawal
Explosive: Volatile and reactive
Each has a root. Each leaves a mark.
🪞 REFLECTION PROMPTS
What kinds of situations make me feel dismissed or unsafe?
Am I willing to explore what’s underneath my anger?
📥 Download: Anger Styles Inventory
💭 CLOSING THOUGHT
Your story influences your response, but it doesn’t define your future. You have a choice.
— Leon & Lola Bark Back
This Week’s Topic: “But I’m Still Mad!”
Leon and Lola share how dogs move on quickly, don’t hold grudges, and live in the now. They encourage readers to reflect on what they’re really angry about — unmet needs or unhealed wounds?
Key Thought: Forgiveness isn’t forgetting — it’s dropping the chew toy and walking back into connection.
Signed, Paw prints & tail wags — Leon & Lola 🐾