At the end of the day regardless of what you’re dealing with, whom you interacted with, what was brilliant or what sucked, you have control over your own reactions and behavior.
This is not breaking news, we’ve all heard it before but holy cow, it is a lesson in life that we constantly need to review and a skill that is tough to master.
We are tested on a daily basis where our ego attempts to take control putting us in a reactive role. In fact we have become a society of big egos with a one-up or win-lose approach to conflict.
Someone is rude to you on the street, your reaction is to be rude back. Your partner snaps at you (for whatever reason) and your immediate reaction is to cut him/her down to size. Someone treats you unfairly and we get our backs up with our ‘fuck you, I’ll show you’ attitude. Be on the end of road rage abuse and feel flustered for the rest of the day. We are quick to view people as assholes who act certain ways towards us but then react in a similar way turning into big assholes ourselves.
We lose control of our centeredness when we recklessly react to situations or other people. While it may feel powerful at the time, all it really does is feed our egos and take away our power. We are quick to blame others for ruining our day instead of being accountable for our own emotional attitude.
The reality is we can’t control or change other people’s behavior but we can choose how to respond, react and dissolve other’s peoples negative energy.
Don’t become reactive to other people’s negativity. Remain centered and strong in who you are and speak from the heart with dignity and grace. Take the higher ground. It’s not easy but it’s the essence of freedom.
