13 Jun The Habit of Reacting to Our World

Do you ever have days where you spend most of your time reacting to news, situations, emotions or even your own moods? You feel captive. By evening, you are exhausted. Is there a way to avoid being a victim to your own life?

I believe there is and hope you might explore this perspective with me.

As you go through your day, notice how not what you confront. When you are in a conversation, do you truly listen to what is being said?
Or do you tend to quickly divert your mind?
Maybe you are anticipating your reaction.
Does your mind just take off without even hearing what is being said?
Can you liken its quality to an animal or image?

Another way you may react is by finding yourself drifting away or spacing out.
Perhaps you don’t even hear or notice what it is being communicated.
You wake up with a jolt to discover you have missed the moment and you have no response or recollection of anything.

I must admit I relate to these ways of reacting!

Rather than reacting, we might consider receiving our experiences
to fully connect to ourselves in the present moment
and our exchange with the outer world.

Receiving is a much more authentic way of living.

Of course I am not always successful at this but even differentiating between reaction and reception has been a helpful practice.