Reacting versus Responding

Recently my friends told me that they felt as if I’d fallen off the face of the earth! No, I haven’t learned how to make myself invisible…yet! Instead,  I was sucked into the black hole of the internet trying to figure out html coding, CSS, everythingto do with website design. So, I was not in the world of mindfulness, instead I was very much in the world of frustration and irritation… I was reacting instead of responding; getting mad, blaming, even talking to the computer! Finally, I’d had my fill of getting nowhere and noticed that my whole body was tense, and drained from having all of my attention and energy focused on trying to win! My mentality was one of “I’m going to figure this out even if I have to spend the whole night doing it!” I wasn”t attuned to what was going on inside of me I was totally attuned to what was going on inside of the computer and felt that if I spent more time there I would eventually get it, feel successful and get what I want! It didn’t happen and that is my point…

So how does this relate to mindfulness?

Reacting vs. Responding

When your energy is tied up somewhere else, either on your partner, friends, children, work, inanimate objects etc. you are reacting to the outside world instead of responding and attending to your own feelings, needs, etc.  The focus is totally on the outside, trying to control what is going on out there and totally bypassing the place where you really can make a difference; inside of yourself! It is very tempting to believe that in some way you can control what’s happening in the outside world, however this is a delusion that will keep you stuck in an endless loop and leave you feeling hopeless, frustrated and powerless. It is when you look at what is going on inside of you, how you are reacting versus responding to your own needs (blaming self or others, escape tactics such as addictions, etc.) and turning towards what is calling for attention inside of you with compassion that you will find a feeling of balance, empowerment and clarity.

Pause and be Mindul...

Take a moment right now to pause and bring awareness to what is going on inside of you.

–  How are you responding to your own needs?
–  In what way can you bring compassion and self care into your world?
–  How could you change your reaction to a caring response towards yourself?
–  Take a moment to write about your experience.

May you have moments of peace throughout your day….Namaste