Mastering Response Power #selfimprovement #selfmastery #selfimprovementjourney

Let's talk briefly about the role of being creationary versus reactionary. So something happens to me. Let's use the image of me on my way home from work driving down Interstate 64 through Lake St. Louis, Missouri. A large truck swerving in and out through traffic ends up cutting me off in a fairly aggressive way. Naturally, my response is to get upset. Some of us would even get to the point of saying some special words or making some unique gestures as this large truck continues on its way down the highway. Here's the interesting part. What actually happened to me? I saw a truck a little too close to me and applied the brake for a second or two, the end. There was no harm done, no damage inflicted, except perhaps to my ego or sense of pride for some reason. My reacting in a way that allows me to become angry really isn't necessary. Sure, there's some potential for an accident and that type of driving can get you pulled over with a ticket or even worse and cause an accident. But in this example, it did nothing to me except provide me with an opportunity to apply the brakes for a moment. So the question is, why should I get upset? Why should I allow the action from another person to make me angry? Does the guy driving the truck have control over my mind somehow? Can he mentally manipulate my thoughts and emotions? The answers to all of these questions are actually and factually no. But for some reason, most of us in this situation will give up our mental and emotional control to anger. What we forget, hopefully just for a moment and in that moment only, is that we also give up our power and capability for individual response. You see, we allow the situation, the occurrence, or the prompt to exert control over us. Now, what if I could separate my response from the situation? The action of the truck cutting me off should only be an impetus, a prompt, and should stop short of influencing my decision, my action. It should stop there. However, in reality, each of us has done some pre-programming of our reflex responses and in-the-moment reactions over the courses of our lives and over the courses of our many, many minute little choices. We've trained our bodies and minds to do certain things in certain situations. We've developed and confirmed these choices as reflexes. Reflexes can be helpful and protective, but also can perpetuate a negative and damaging pattern of action and reaction. What we are talking about here is a platform for developing the skills necessary to force a wedge or create a space in between external action and prompt and our individual response. We all too often give up our ability to respond, our responsibility, when some external prompt incites emotion or causes discomfort. Imagine the power that we, each of us, possess as we come to understand how much individual responsibility, how much choice power, we actually have in that space or time that exists between someone's actions that might impact us and how we individually choose to respond. As I look to those people who are my mentors and who have been leaders in my life, I can see that these people have recognized how much power they actually have in that place in between the prompts of life and their actions, what we would call reactions, that come as a result of those prompts. It is in these places, these spaces between external stimulus or prompt and my choice, that the power of creative creation can be demonstrated. Just imagine the difference in choices of the person who realizes and uses the power to choose their own adventure versus the choices of someone who reacts with an emotional reflex after every external or internal prompt or stimulus. We should intentionally endeavor to immediately begin creating life experiences through choosing our own actions, rather than simply reacting to everything that happens around us. This is the power of BEING.