Indignation

“Indignation is self-righteous anger” (Ekman, 2003, p.129)

Felt like: A visceral, gut-level anger at being told perhaps I needed “no system.”

Mine: You don’t understand what you’re asking me to discard.

Why: My friend reduced years of developing my system to the idea that perhaps I shouldn’t have one. I felt strongly that they had misunderstood both the problem and what I had built.

Nuance: Anger says “something is wrong.” Indignation adds “and I believe I am right to be angry about it.” There is a self-righteous quality to it.

Not quite:
Frustration — Something is obstructing me.
Anger — Something feels wrong.

What it showed me: The anger pushed me to make the invisible parts of my system visible—and ultimately solve the actual bottleneck.