Active Reacting - 23 July 2009
I was vaccuming earlier, and while I drifted away in my thoughts to the rythmic motion of pushing the the cleaner back and forth, the hum of the motor drowning out everything else, I got to thinking about reacting.
I thought about how easy it is to react without thinking. It's so easy to snap at my ever-patient husband when I misunderstand what he's meaning. It's easy to react harshly to my mother when she talks about her problems. The easiest reaction in the world to fall into seems to be one of annoyance, anger and grief.
What's not so easy is to react with love and trust. Why is this? Why instead of snapping back at someone, can we not reach over and hug them, thanking them for their concern? Why is it always easier to let ourselves fall into a negative reaction than a positive one?
I started to think about the word itself: React. Dictionary.com defines react as 1) to act in response to an agent or influence; 2) to respond to a stimulus in a particular manner; and 3) to act in opposition, as against some force.
The word React when broken down, gives us Re-Act, which would mean to act or perform again.
These definitions alone hold so much meaning. A reaction is a response to a person, influence or event. The very word suggests action, so it's something that we consciously choose to do. And the third definition is saying that when we react, we react in opposition to some force, which I would suggest as being a perceived force.
After thinking about reacting, I have come to the conclusion that all events that happen around us are completely neutral. How we respond, is our own re-acting of the event. Our response acts the situation out again and gives it either a positive or a negative force in our lives and minds.
If we percieve someone's words as being insulting, then we act out against that, which only serves to reinforce any negative implications. We give the negativity life, and endow it with the ability to harm us. This is an ability the situation never had before we let it.
Likewise, if we can stop, think and re-act the situation out again in a positive light, by responding with love and trust, then we can give the situation the ability to strengthen and nurture us.
Our reactions are conscious choices, and we can choose whether we fall or stand strong in any situation we may be faced with. It is not a bad world - everything is created as completely neutral, and it is what we do with that, and how we act it out again, that makes it positive or negative. It really is completely up to us.
I thought about how easy it is to react without thinking. It's so easy to snap at my ever-patient husband when I misunderstand what he's meaning. It's easy to react harshly to my mother when she talks about her problems. The easiest reaction in the world to fall into seems to be one of annoyance, anger and grief.
What's not so easy is to react with love and trust. Why is this? Why instead of snapping back at someone, can we not reach over and hug them, thanking them for their concern? Why is it always easier to let ourselves fall into a negative reaction than a positive one?
I started to think about the word itself: React. Dictionary.com defines react as 1) to act in response to an agent or influence; 2) to respond to a stimulus in a particular manner; and 3) to act in opposition, as against some force.
The word React when broken down, gives us Re-Act, which would mean to act or perform again.
These definitions alone hold so much meaning. A reaction is a response to a person, influence or event. The very word suggests action, so it's something that we consciously choose to do. And the third definition is saying that when we react, we react in opposition to some force, which I would suggest as being a perceived force.
After thinking about reacting, I have come to the conclusion that all events that happen around us are completely neutral. How we respond, is our own re-acting of the event. Our response acts the situation out again and gives it either a positive or a negative force in our lives and minds.
If we percieve someone's words as being insulting, then we act out against that, which only serves to reinforce any negative implications. We give the negativity life, and endow it with the ability to harm us. This is an ability the situation never had before we let it.
Likewise, if we can stop, think and re-act the situation out again in a positive light, by responding with love and trust, then we can give the situation the ability to strengthen and nurture us.
Our reactions are conscious choices, and we can choose whether we fall or stand strong in any situation we may be faced with. It is not a bad world - everything is created as completely neutral, and it is what we do with that, and how we act it out again, that makes it positive or negative. It really is completely up to us.
