As much as we have distractions these days, we also have choices. They are everywhere, including gluten free, fragrance free, and peanut free just to name a few.

Today you have the choice on what you let affect you. Today you have the choice on how you process and how you respond. Instead of reacting to someone, or their actions, choose to respond. There’s a stark difference in reacting and responding. Far too often we make the choice to react. It’s in our chemical nature to automatically react to a situation or an individual. Dr. Henry Cloud points to the difference in the two:

When I react, they are in control. When I respond, I am.

Do you give into the reaction and allow the control you have on your emotions to be let loose? I know I do alot of the time. I am a reactor. Unfortunately the example of such a thing is a nuclear reactor that many fear when the alarms start blaring. But when I look to an example of a responder? That’s easy, I see a first responder to an emergency scene. They are calm, collected, and assessing the scene before them with poise. The difference is so drastic but it comes from work, learning, and time.

Today is a good day to start the lesson of responding instead of reacting…we all have the choice. For you, which will you choose?