I have a friend who is dealing with anger issues. Not her own, but other people's anger directed at her. Some of her friends discovered that if they were angry at her, she would do anything to fix it. A couple of them used this knowledge to their own advantage, to manipulate her feelings and play emotional tag with her.
This unaware girl resorted to ridiculous methods to pacify an angry guy friend. Not realizing that all the time, her friend was hooking on to her emotions. She couldn't explain why she liked him so much, she just did. He used the smallest infraction to withdraw from her and stopped communicating. She would then pursue him to ensure he was no longer angry and in the process, gave too much of herself, emotionally. It resulted in affection for the guy. Unhealthy attraction.
We need to realize that we are not responsible for other's anger. Does that mean we do nothing about it? Certainly not. Our part in reconciling relationships results in pro active behaviour. We need to take responsibility for our mistakes, but we draw the line when someone else's anger controls our emotions. Are we doing too much? Is the other person deliberately trying to control the situation to their advantage?
