I am so very guilty of this. And this is an area of my life that I’m working on improving. I’m getting better, so there is hope yet 🙂

When we encounter life’s little or BIG challenges? How do we REACT? How do we RESPOND? And what is the difference anyway? Aren’t these two responses pretty much the same thing? Not quite. Let me explain.

When we “react” we respond to situations out of “habit.”

Let me say that again. When we “react” – we respond out of “habit.” At least until we learn to respond differently. However we previously responded to a specific situation – that is how we will usually respond to a similar situation when we encounter it.

So what about “respond”? If you notice in the paragraph above, I used the word “respond” to explain how we react – AFTER we have learned to respond differently.

So what does that mean? Why is reaction any different from a response?

Well, as I mentioned before, reaction is usually something done habitually. Somebody cuts us off in traffic and we, (a) give them the finger, – you know the one, (b) reciprocate by speeding up and cutting them off, (c) or, get so infuriated that we speed up alongside them and gives them the “evil eye” – sometimes all of the above – you know what I mean!

But instead, when we respond, it requires that we SLOW DOWN our reaction and “think through” HOW we will respond. We may ask ourselves: Is it even worth it to ALLOW (key word here) this person to spoil my entire day? And in so doing, we SLOW DOWN our reactive process, and respond differently.

So guess what guys. It really is up to us how we DECIDE to react or respond to any situation you encounter.

I’m trying to SLOW DOWN my habitual reaction so that I can respond in way that is more beneficial to my health and happiness. How about you? Why don’t we try this together? I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s better than ALLOWING others to dictate how much we enjoy our lives.

Talk soon. And in the meantime, “FEEL the FEAR and DO it anyway!”