In her book The Dance of Connection, Harriet Lerner writes about some of the advantages of anger:

My point is not that you should deny your anger or ignore its sources. On the contrary, anger is an important signal that something is wrong. It always deserves our attention and respect. Anger can sharpen our passion and clarity and inspire us to speak honestly and truly. It can motivate us to say no to the demands and expectations of others, and yes to the dictates of our inner self. Our anger can help us clarify where we stand, what we believe, and what we will and won't do. Our anger tells us when the other person has crossed a line that shouldn't be crossed. In all these ways, our anger preserves the very dignity and integrity of our voice. If we didn't have our anger to motivate us, our fear might lock us into passivity, silence, and accommodation.

Source: From The Dance of Connection: How to Talk to Someone When You're Mad, Hurt, Scared, Frustrated, Insulted, Betrayed, or Desperate, by H. Lerner, 2001, New York: HarperCollins.

1			Do you have any personal examples of the positive expression of your own anger?
2			Do you think anger when expressed tends to be more positive than negative? Do you think when anger is expressed, it is more frequently negative than positive?
3			Taking the opposite point of view, what are some negative things that occur because of anger?
4			How can the negative outcomes of anger be changed to positive by our own efforts? In a relationship, what can you do specifically to help encourage anger to become positive and not negative?