“The State of Your Mental Health isn’t Measured by your Circumstances, it’s Measured by your Reaction to Those Circumstances.”
We often forget that our reaction dictates our state of being, but more importantly, it dictates how we feel.
And we have to remember that we’re “just” human beings. Every single person out there talks about spirituality, celestial beings, and everything special that also exists under our sun.
But we exist under our sun. We, mere human beings, are made out of flesh and bones. And it is that correlation between power and the reactiveness to our circumstances, which creates the feeling of being powerless to them.
You are not powerless towards the circumstances around you, because you are forgetting what you need power over.
It is not over the circumstances — those are mere manifestations. The real power lies (the only power lies) in how you respond to those circumstances. Because sometimes, the tiniest thing can happen, which can make us feel utterly powerless:
Stepping on a piece of gum, stubbing our toe(s), or being clawed by our can’t-do-anything-wrong and most special of all, house cat.
WE ARE NEVER EXEMPT FROM FEELING POWERLESS, IN ANY SITUATION.
So what fuels the powerlessness is you, and how you respond is what dictates it, not the thing itself. This means that you have all the power.
So the real question then forms: How do I stop reacting to my meaningless circumstances?
Here is a good structure to live by:
Meditate
Catch yourself
Choose differently.
Meditation:
Meditate means: To get familiar with.
It doesn’t mean: Let’s fly sky-high and never return to earth.
You need to get familiar with yourself and where you go wrong — where you fall into these “automatic responses.” Once you have gained your clarity, you can now pinpoint where you are and change it.
The idea is to stop being unaware of our unaware behaviours. Habits aren’t behaviours we are conscious of; habits are unconscious. Others are choices. And if something you do is unwanted but you keep doing it, figure out why you keep choosing it.
Because you’re aware of it. So, take responsibility.
Catch yourself:
Catching yourself in the act of automatically responding becomes easier once you keep doing it. It is a trial-and-error process, and it is meant to start a tiny (harmless) fire under your butt, so that you start moving.
Most of our problems feel so big because we feel powerless to change them. If we gain clarity, we regain choice.
If we regain choice, we gain power.
Choose differently:
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” — (Someone said it, not Albert Einstein.)
And that’s how most people (choose to) live. But they don’t choose to.
They are unaware.
More importantly, unaware of their power to choose and respond differently.
Because responding differently is your only responsibility.
Or, your ability to respond.
