It is common to find people defending their anger and frustration by saying" He/She provoked me".
What does provocation mean? The classic text book meaning of provocation is: something that incites or provokes; a means of arousing or stirring to action or unfriendly behavior that causes anger or resentment'
We often resort to consoling ourselves as a justification for our behaviour by saying to ourselves-" What I said or did may not be correct, but then he/she provoked me to respond in this manner".
Provocation can be active or passive. When we react due to a specific action or words of another person it is usually active form of provocation. But some times, the opposite party can be silent which has been bothering us or appears indifferent to our frustration, then it is a form of passive provocation.
How do we handle provocation?
The only tool available to us is introspection. As a part of the introspection process, we have to ask ourselves-
"What made me angry?"
We have to remember, that we use provocation as a justification for our behaviour, whereas the true cause for our anger may reside somewhere else.
The answer to the question "What made me angry?" has to be answered with a certain level of honesty. It is only then we will get to the bottom of the reasons which made us angry or frustrated in the first place.
The process of self discovery involves the practice of being honest to ourselves. If we are committed to understand ourselves better and come to terms with our selves, we must learn to practice the art of introspection with a high level of honesty.
