Acting vs. Reacting

 
Today I will talk on the subject of how the mind deals with every day situations and what kind of "influence" such a decision might have on you.
I just read this blog a few minutes ago and it did seem like the "answer" I was expecting for the past few days. And Life does indeed answers our calls as long as we open our mind for it.

We are programmed to act a certain way given certain outside conditions or stimuli. Simple as that. Or at least it`s simple if you let the mind rule over you, if you fail to realize that mind is not you but a tool you use.

If you consider yourself to be the mind then you will indeed act the way you were programmed. If you consider yourself to be a "persona" playing a certain role on this plane and another person or situation comes and does something that disrupts your "perfect" existence you will immediatly respond in a defensive manner.

Negative does not necessarily mean taking a baseball bat and hitting that person over the head. Negative can also be being unpleasantly sarcastic or even indifferent.
And it is not necessarily the outcome which I consider as "negative" but the way you feel inside.

You act negative for you get defensive. Somebody or something attempts to jeopardize the idea you have of yourself. And you worked so hard to get here. You been through so many self-made hardships and you had to convince so many people that you do exist. And now somebody or something dares to be a pain? The nerve some people have...

You like your room to be tidy and somebody starts throwing your things on the floor, then your first reaction is to get displeased (or even angry) with the other. Whether you show it or not, deep inside you feel this anger eating at your core. That is what happens when you "react", when you let the mind deal with the situation.

And this is what happened to me last week when I got an email from an old acquintance who`s "indirect" purpuse was to draw me back into a series of mind games and ego clashes by taping on my old wounds and insecurities. And this is exactly what it would happen if I got this email as far as an year ago. I would have gotten angry and most likely say a few words back in order to "prove a point" and come out on top. Basically unconsciously reacting to somebody disrupting my "happy" existence.

What changed that I didn`t fall for the trick?

Rather than letting my mind answer that email I`ve chosen to be aware. I read the words, I noticed how they strike a feeling of insecurity inside of me. I tried my best to keep my composure and not give in to my desire to "teach" that person a lesson, and so the negative flow has been stopped. Instead of jumping into a roller-coaster of negative feelings and memories, I decided to keep my inner peacefulness and be a witness instead.

And so it had little to no negative effect on me. When you go through life "reacting" to the way life kicks you in the family jewelry, then you are bound to go through a lot of negativity.

When you stop that and instead try not to take things personal and realize you don`t have to be a "victim" to other peoples and situations, life will simply stop appearing like a boogie man who is after you.

Choose acting rather than reacting. Remember mind as a tool. Remember that "your" beliefs and concepts are not the ultimate truth but just a point of view, and that there are 8 billion points of view and all of them are right and all of them are wrong, all in the same time.

Simply be aware.