Responding

There's alot of things that we don't get the liberty in life to choose for ourselves. We don't get to choose when we will be on our mountaintop or in our lowest valley. We don't get to choose when death is going to steal someone in our circle, hitting us straight in the gut. We don't get to choose who is going to like and accept us, or who is going to go full-speed "mean girls", and not let us sit at their table. 

On the flip side of that, you have to power to choose what to accept and what to let go. 

"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how we react to it."- Charles R. Swindoll

That's an awesome quote that we've all heard, but I still have a problem with it. You see, with every situation that I face, I have the choice to either "react" or "respond". 

-By reacting, I am giving the other person or situation control over my actions. I have taken the situation at hand, whether that be an unexpected circumstance or another person's hurtful words or behaviors, and I have given those things control over my attitude, my words, and my actions. I am 'snapping back' to another's words. I am allowing the situation to wreak havoc on me, and giving the situation liberty to steal my joy and peace, leaving me exhausted, infuriated, or in a deep state of depression. 

-By responding, however, I am taking a step back from the reaction that I could have given initially and regaining control over the situation. I am not letting my temper flare wrecklessly. I am not snapping off with the first thing that comes across the little ole brain of mine. I am not allowing the situation to force me to do or say something that I didn't mean to. I am choosing, instead, to use this moment in time to shift my mindset and give a more appropriate response. I am taking responsibility for the things I am about to do and the words I am about to say before I ever do so. 

The truth of the matter is that you are in charge of how you respond to people and situations in your life. You can either give negativity power over your life or you can choose happiness. You choose what you allow into your life. You choose when to distance yourself from a damaging person or toxic situation. You choose how you are going to let situations affect you. Happiness is a choice. Joy and peace? Choices. I can be going through the most difficult time in my life, and I can choose to walk around in sadness, bitterness, and gloom....but I can also choose to take back my joy. Even if I don't like the situation, if the situation seems to difficult, or if my world seems like an absolute hot mess... I can still respond with happiness. It's a choice I have to make with each passing moment of my life. You know what else? I can also choose for myself whose table I am going to sit at and what kind of people I am going to surround myself with. 

"You either get bitter or you get better. It's that simple. You either take what has been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you down. The choice does not belong to fate, it belongs to you." -Josh Shipp