Are you Reacting or Responding?

Happy Friday friends- how is everyone holding up today?
It’s tough out there. I don’t know about you but I feel like my stress level is at a solid 11 most of the day lately. So at times like this when so much feels out of my control, I work hard on finding what I can control. 

And asking myself a simple question seems to be helping me. 

Am I REACTING? Or am I RESPONDING? 

Most of us are living our lives in an endless cycle of Reactivity. 

When we are Reacting to life, an event happens and an emotion instantly follows. 

Cut off in traffic? Anger.

Thinking about next weeks company meeting? Anxiety.

Looking at your finances? Worry. 

We are on auto-pilot. Events equal emotional reactions and it is slowly eroding our health and our humanity. 

Just think about the word REACT. It literally means to act again. Something happens and you act again. And again and again and those reactions create habitual ways of responding. Those reactions create your life. 

So what is the alternative? We can consciously choose to Respond instead of React. 

What is Response? It’s a pause, a moment of self-awareness. It is the realization that we are the missing link between the event and our emotions. 

We bring the meaning to the events in our lives no matter how challenging that is to realize. People and events don’t make us angry. We choose our emotions. And we can choose to Respond instead of React. 

• Reaction is based on our subconscious patterns and beliefs.

• Response looks within and questions motivations. 

• Reaction is habitual and automatic. 

• Response slows down and creates space. 

• Reaction keeps us stuck in our old ways. 

• Response initiates change and moves us forward. 

• Reaction keeps our nervous system on high alert 24/7.

• Response allows for calm, reason and kindness. 

So today when events happen, can you intentionally choose to take a pause? Can you stop and question if your habitual reactions are helping you to live the best, highest version of yourself? Could you take a moment and choose to respond differently? 

And be kind to yourself. This is big work. Your brain loves to React because it loves short cuts and patterns. 

So when you choose Response over Reaction you are doing the big work of changing your life. You are overcoming old habits and beliefs. 

You are controlling what you can control. 

And you get to decide. Will you React? Or will you Respond? 

Wishing you all a really lovely weekend. Get some rest. Hug your people. You got this.