13 - Losing one's temper and being childish about it

A seriously bad habit of mine is my tendency to lose my temper easily, otherwise known as flipping my lid, throwing a fit, hitting the roof/ceiling, flying off the handle (what?), going mad, flipping my wig, blowing a fuse, having kittens (huh?), blowing my stack (...whatever that means), 'combusting', going ballistic, going crackers, going bananas and being driven up the wall.

The word 'temper' comes from the Latin word, temperare, and it used to refer to the balance of certain elements within a mixture that would soon be 'tempered' into metal. People later used the word to refer to mental balance, and when one loses that balance, they are said to have 'lost their temper'.

I guess it's not the getting angry part that I dislike. What I dislike is the childish behavior that comes with it. I'm talking about the long, quick, dramatic strides while walking around, the loud slamming of the door, the exaggerated heavy breathing accompanied by larger nostrils, the obvious glares one sends towards the guilty party, the pounding of books, canteen trays, coffee mugs, pencil cases and other items upon the table, the refusal to speak, the crossing of arms and just the general temperament that radiates one, single message to everyone around you: I'm f***ing pissed, living in my world SUCKS, I'll make YOUR world suck, by SLAMMING doors and POUNDING books on the table, so that YOU can have a taste of the suckiness I'M experiencing.

All of that is really immature, don't you think?

I remember I had this one birthday, where I got this cool, new watch as a present. I was trying to put it on myself, but then my grandmother offered to put it on for me. She took the watch right out of my hands, and started to help me, but I just lost it completely. My independence must've been a big deal, even then, 'cause I threatened to step hard on to her foot if she attempted to help me a second time. My mother made that mistake, I slammed my foot onto hers and stormed out of the house crying. Crazy stuff.

I guess if you do get mad, you need to have good reason. I remember there was one occasion where I was trying to throw a paper CD case to my friend. It ended up hitting a girl in the face and she got really mad at me for... a day or so. I apologized on the spot, but she still had good reason to be angry for a while. And I know she reads this blog. Sorry again!

When you win a game, you still get your sore losers though, and at school/work, you get the rebellious classmates/co-workers that don't get treated 'fairly'. Oh, and when people do any of the things that I've discussed in this blog, I can get quite irritated if my mind dwells on it for too long. When things don't go our way or when they irritate us, handling it is quite a test of patience, tolerance and character. I lose my temper a lot and it does get quite awful at times.

What do you think? Do you hate it too?