“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react that matters.” – Epictetus
Life is never going to go according to your plans. Sometimes good things happen and sometimes bad things happen. We can’t control everything, but what we can control is how we react to our surroundings.
We know that life isn’t always going to go our way. When it doesn’t, how you respond? If you get bad news, do you lash out at the person who told you? Do you break down and cry? Or do you remain calm in the face of adversity and figure out your next move?
Don’t have a pity party for yourself. It won’t make you feel better and then you’ve wasted valuable time to take corrective action. Not only that, but the longer you remain down, the more others view you in a negative light. Your best case scenario is that others will have sympathy for you. You might get their charity. But sympathy only goes so far and their charity will run out too. At some point, even the people who feel bad for you will get tired of your complaining.
People admire someone who can pick themselves up after falling. They respect those who can overcome defeat, who can stay positive when it looks like there’s not much to be positive about. When you take ownership of your actions and your reactions, you begin to feel more positive about your life. Even when you feel you have no control over the events occurring, at least you know that you have control over your responses.
Start practicing how you respond to events today. You’ll always make mistakes. You’ll still get angry or down sometimes. But the quicker you minimize those actions and feelings, the quicker you can move on and start making the correct actions. In the process, you’ll feel less helpless and more in control of your life.