Lately, I have been focusing on having more control over the way that I react…to good news, bad news, frustrating situations, interactions with other people, etc. It’s easy to quickly react to events, situations and people without pausing to evaluate. And the pause is critical. It can provide a better view of the situation at hand and give more clarity on how to react to it.
Examples…
I am on week five of my new career. I gave up a steady paycheck to make this happen. In those five weeks the following has happened:
– The pipe running to our washer was clogged causing it to dump water all over the laundry room floor. We had to hire a plumber to clean the pipes.
– Then the dryer died. It shoots sparks when we attempt to turn it on and doesn’t produce heat. We’re now in the market for a new dryer.
– A squirrel took up residence in our wall (seriously, wft!?) and we had to hire a critter catcher to trap it. Critter catchers are not cheap. I can’t blame them though. I wouldn’t want to do that job.
– My laptop went to computer heaven.
It’s been one thing, after another, after another and has left me thinking, “Universe? What lesson am I supposed to learn from this?” It would have been so easy to get annoyed and angry about this string of events but instead I reacted by taking some deep breaths and letting it go. There is nothing that I could have done to foresee these events or prevent them. It’s just life. It will all be okay.
On the people side of reactions, I have actively been working to be conscious of how I interact with others and react to news they share. Instead of rushing off to the next thing to do or conversation to have, I’m trying to really engage and give them the reaction that they deserve. This translates over to arguments as well. Instead of flying off the handle, if I pause take stock of the situation, I usually find that I would have overreacted had I gone with my gut reaction.
I’m a work in progress. I won’t say that I don’t scream a little on the inside when these types of things happen but I won’t let it become something that ruins my whole day or that puts me in a negative place.
How are your reactions to situations and people? Are you able to take a step back?
