WHY SHOULD WE RESPOND AND NOT REACT TO A SITUATION

RESPOND AND NOT REACT

WHAT IT IS – TO RESPOND AND NOT REACT

there are many theories for response and Reaction, whether it be to a person’s character, be it in relationships or at workplace

rESPONSE is always considered to be positive reaction in whichever area we take, specially when it comes to relationships

REACTION is a negative emotion.

on the spur of the moment or in the heat of the situation or in the middle of the argument we tend to just react to the situations or people which life throws on us.

we don’t even try to step back for some time and ponder and gauge or evaluate a situation whether we really need to REACT to a situation or make matters worse

or just take some time to step back to RESPOND and take hold of the situation or people so that things doesn’t go out of hand and we are in control of the situation, thus saving mental and physical energy

when recovering from illness, doctors say you are RESPONDING to medicines and if your health deteriorates, we say the medicine is reacting on you

so let us learn to STOP TO REACT to any situation in life but instead choose to RESPOND

A STORY AS TO WHY WE SHOULD RESPOND AND NOT REACT

once a young farmer paddled his boat up the river with great effort as he was paddling upstream

he was all sweating but he had no other option because he had to deliver his produce to the village

it was very hot and he wanted to make the delivery and return back home the same day before dark

as he looked ahead, he saw another boat from the opposite direction coming rapidly downstream towards his boat

he was very furious and tried hard to get out of the coming boat but it didn’t help

he tried to shout out loud to change the direction and get out of his way but it was all in vain

the boat came straight towards him and hit him anyways with a violent thud

this young man cried out loud,’ You idiot, can’t you see my boat coming upwards. such a wide river and you couldn’t change the direction of your Boat‘

furious and angry he shouted out loudly and used all the swear words he knew

since there was no response from the other side, he glared into the boat, seeking for the person who was responsible for this accident but to his surprise there was no one inside the boat

all this while he had been screaming and howling at an empty boat that had broken free of its moorings and was floating downstream with the current

MORAL OF THE STORY

The interesting teaching about this story is that we often get angry, upset, act out and play the victim mode.

we engage in a defensive and a negative Way that makes nothing better!

you can behave more calmly when we know that what is coming towards us is an empty boat.

we have to make peace with the fact that whatever we face in our life is because of our own past and present karmas and do our best to rectify the situation

the challenge for all of us is to recognize that there’s never really anyone in the other boat. we always scream at an empty vessel

if we start treating all the boats as empty, we have no other choice but to

1. accept what is

2. stop making reactions to the situation

3. analyze the situation and respond to the situation

it is up to us how we react to the empty boats in our lives. we can either React and yell and scream at the empty boats coming towards us in the form of person or situation

or we choose to respond and endure the collision and choose to get out of the way the best we can, accepting what has happened and do our best to continue on our way along the river

this is a very lovely story we all should remember in our lives to live a correct and peaceful life

https://reflectwithsmitha.com/karma-knowledge-know-more-about-it-through-a-wonderful-story/

SO HERE’S TO CONCLUDE WITH A DISCLAIMER

i am no teacher or saint to preach or teach people

but by god’s grace i come upon such references from books and teachings from spiritual gurus which gives me a lot of wisdom and ways to live my valuable life meaningfully

and teach myself and the people whom i associate with – to live with the right code of conduct and to raise the standard of living

making smaller changes in life will not only help us be a better individual

but also bring a valuable change in the society in the current scenario which is very much required

however small it may be but let’s atleast start from OURSELVES

let’s make the world a better place with our small efforts in all aspects of living

so that’s all friends, hope i could bring some insight in you

until next time keep smiling

MUCH LOVE … STAY HAPPY … STAY BLESSED… ALWAYS

SMITHA