“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”- Epictetus

How do we take the situations that happen to us? The very reaction to those circumstances can either enable us to become stronger or render us weak. My mom has always told me, growing up, that my very problem is reacting. (In fact, there were two things, reacting and assuming.) She would say to always step back and put thought into an action as opposed to reacting. “Why if it is human nature to react?”, I would often question, and she would state, “Reacting is bad. Yes it is an instinct to react, but a wise person thinks before acting upon something. So, think, don’t react.” This quote reminds me of my mom. How about you? Do you react? Or think before acting upon a situation? Somehow I find that thinking before reacting–or acting– pretty much helps set your mind towards a positive outlook and can determine where you will end up with the given situation, mentally and emotionally. You are providing directions to your mind and preparing yourself emotionally. Yes, we have such instincts to react to many things, much like our knee when the doctor taps it to see if it jolts upward, but let us program ourselves to think thoroughly. I believe this world would be a very different place if we did that. If we didn’t go off of our carnal instincts to react to any given situation. Of course, there are some life-death situations you simply do not have time to think and that is a whole other page within itself. An ode to my mom.

Have a great day!