When a golfer was asked why he bought a new putter, he said, “The old one didn’t float.”

We live in what some people call the age of rage. What about your anger? Do people call you Old Faithful at work — not because you show up everyday but because you blow up every week? Do you want to be known for your anger? When it started to thunder and lightning during a woman’s funeral who was known for her temper, her husband said to his son, “Your mother just arrived in heaven.”

You may think you don’t have a problem with anger. Are you sure? Sometimes the stoic, silent people are the ones who have the most trouble with anger. They stuff it all inside. Some people handle anger like a turtle — they just pull their head into their shell and pout. Others handle it like skunks — they stink up the environment. Both are inappropriate, and both will get you into trouble and keep you from winning in life.

During a race car event, the second-place car tried to pass the first-place car on the final stretch. The first car drifted inside and forced the challenger into the infield grass. What happened next was incredible. The offended driver pulled his car back onto the track, caught up with the leader and forced him to the outside wall. Both vehicles came to a screeching halt. The two drivers jumped out and quickly got into an old-fashioned slugging match. In the meantime, the third-place driver cruised by for the win. Winners rarely lose their tempers.

Getting angry is like leaping into a fast sports car, gunning the motor, and racing down the highway at high speeds, and then discovering that the car has no brakes. That temperamental personality becomes about 90 percent temper and 10 percent mental. You get the Jim Carey syndrome: The madder and madder you get, the dumber and dumber you act.

Anger out-of-control makes you lose even when you think you’ve won. At a national park, people watched as an enormous bear ate from the trash cans. A skunk ate beside the bear. Someone asked the park ranger, “How does the little skunk get away with eating the garbage around the big black bear?” The ranger replied, “The bear knows the high cost of winning.”

Anger, like a loaded gun, is very powerful. If you are careless, you will hurt not only yourself but you will also hurt others. Keep your cool in battle. Don’t lose your head, or you’ll have no place to put your helmet.

Anger is like an uncontrolled fire in a fireplace. If it gets too big, people are burned. On the other hand, if the fire dies out, the occupants will freeze. The key is adequate respect and adequate control.

Anger can also be your ally if it moves you from apathy to action and energizes you to do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do. The emotion of anger can lead to the right motion if you control it and not let it control you. Our nation was born when 56 patriots became angry enough to sign the Declaration of Independence.

One lady had many psychiatric problems. One contributing factor was an uncooperative adult son who had been freeloading off her for years. Her physician recommended that she be admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Upon learning this news, her son seemed very pleased at the prospect of getting rid of her and even helped her pack her bags. His attitude made her so furious that she marched back into the house with her luggage and told her son to get out of the house and support himself. The anger forced her to do something that she knew she should have already done. The emotion of anger led to a motion that was good for her.

So it’s okay to get good and angry, but be sure you control and channel your anger so others will get the good and not the anger.