Subject: Your Reaction is Always Your Choice
“A life of reaction is a life of
slavery, intellectually and spiritually. One must fight for a life of action,
not reaction.” Rita Mae Brown
Love that quote! Here is a story about my 21 year old son
who, I must say, is a good looking young man with a real style for fashion.
Since he was very young, his clothes, hair and shoes were important to him.
When he feels he looks good, he is happy, at his best and confident.
We all are like that to some extent, right?
He is allowed to dress in business casual to work. He
arrives to work and shortly after he arrives, I receive a text on how upset and
embarrassed he is. His $45 Oxford fashion designer shirt had bleach stains on
it!
He is working hard to control his reaction, put the
situation in perspective and not let it ruin his day!
We all know that how we choose to react is always within our
power. It is always our choice. It may be difficult to do. However, being
mindful that it is always in our control is a powerful emotion and as Rita Mae
Brown alludes to, it is the opposite of being a slave to our emotions. It is
our freedom and worth fighting to overcome.
We have all had a boss, spouse or child who has said
something to us that sets us off or causes us to “react”. Often it sets us in a
tailspin and then you over react.
My goal for myself is to control my reaction. Sit in the
space for a bit and then choose how to respond.
And you?
Envision a tennis court. You are on one side (reaction),
the other person or event is on the other side. The Net is in between. You want
to be the net and sit in that space....breathe and determine if the energy,
anger, frustration or hurt is worth it.
What will those feelings do to me? How will it help me?
If you see no upside.....let it go! Close your eyes, inhale and let it go
as you exhale...or as a very good friend of mine would say, "erase
it"!