Choose Your Reaction to What Life Sends Your Way

Choose Your Reaction to What Life Sends Your Way

Most of the time, when a major or even minor event is thrown our way, we simply react to it. There’s not a lot of thought process behind it – it’s just something that we do naturally.

However, by thinking about how you want to react rationally, you can better control your life. There are very few instances in which a kneejerk reaction is a good thing. When a difficult situation arises, stop and think about what the appropriate reaction is, and how you should react.

You can control your response to anything if you just take some time to think it over. When you choose how you want to react to a situation, you hold all of the power in that moment.

If someone does something with the intention of upsetting you or making you angry, like a customer who rants to you that your product is horrible and they want a refund sixty seconds after buying it, being able to respond to it calmly takes away their power.

Your life will no longer be dictated by the things happening around you. Nothing can make you feel a way that you don’t want to. Nobody can control your emotions but you. By taking the reins, you can live a happier, more satisfying life by being able to look on the bright side of things.

Immediate reactions are usually irrational, and irrational actions can get you in a lot of trouble. For example, you might be getting tailgated on the highway. You automatically get upset, and you start to see that car behind you as an enemy, and you try to get them away from you or get back at them.

In the process of trying to respond with anger, you could be distracted by their presence and crash – or cause an even worse altercation. Instead, think about simple solutions to solving the problem at hand.

This applies to everyday life, as well. If someone says something derogatory towards you, don’t just try to fight them, just find a way to escape the situation safely, and know that you were the better person in that instance.

In some situations, the immediate reaction that you have is appropriate, such as the loss of someone close to you. You don’t have to make a situation like that positive. For the emotions that follow, such as grief, choose how you’ll handle having these feelings.

Talk it out with a grief counselor rather than just putting it on the back burner. It’s important to recognize situations in which hasty reactions are acceptable, and situations in which well thought out, controlled responses are preferable.