Act Vs. React

It is easy for us to react, in fact most of us react rather than act.  The definition of react is to change in response to a stimulus; to act in opposition to a force or influence.  While the definition of act is the process of doing, something done voluntarily.  

When we react we respond to our social environment, to another person’s behavior, to our emotions.  When we react we give away our peace of mind.  We are prideful creatures, we like to defend ourselves, to get the last word in.  We are creatures of habit, and often we indulge in these habits allowing them to bleed into our thoughts, our words and our relationships.  Eventually these habits take over and we lose perspective, we cling to our emotions, and we forget how powerful a clear mind is.

I’ve always believed that actions speak louder than words, and in order to act in a progressive manner we must first learn how to respond.  This means we must understand our own minds and emotions.  We must take a moment and process why we feel a certain way.  We must release the grip our emotions have on us; after all, they are just passing thoughts.  The art of responding takes patience, observation, and practice.  It is much easier give over to anger, fear, and sadness; but, the minute we do that we lose all power.  When we react we are telling the other person that they are in control, we have dismantled our boundaries.  When we respond we reclaim our own personal power, we reclaim the ability to make our own choices, and we reclaim our peace of mind.

I think we often forget that the way another person acts is not a reflection of us, it is a reflection of their internal world.  For some reason we tend to embody their emotions and words thinking that we did something wrong; and we make it about us.  We must remove ourselves from that way of thinking.  All we can really do is hear that person and chose to act or not.  We don’t have to agree, we don’t even have to like what another person says; but, we do have to make our own choices on how we want to respond to a situation.  There is a power in not reacting, to walking away, and silence is an answer too.  Insecurities are far louder than confidence, don’t worry about getting mad, defending yourself, or getting even.  Instead worry about who you are, what you will stand for, and understand that peace of mind is far more important than winning an argument.  Move on, succeed and let that shit go!