Don't React

Have you ever made a statement to someone and that statement was as much for that person as it was for you, maybe even moreso?

. . . because what you really want,

more than anything

is a reaction?

I do that.

I did it again just two days ago,

and I'm still thinking about it because that person,

that entire company the person works for actually,

did not react how I wanted them to.

In fact, not only did they not react how I wanted them to . . .

THEY DID NOT REACT AT ALL!

They did not get mad.

They did not thank us.

They did not apologize.

They did not explain.

They did not ask why.

They did not try to negotiate.

They did not react.

. . . and I finally realized (this time anyway, but next time I might have to start all over and realize this again) . . .

. . . that the only reaction that should really matter to me - is my own.

You don't say or do things because you are waiting for a certain reaction from someone else, having given that reaction the power to dictate your next move, thought, word, feeling . . . because when that reaction doesn't come:

What do you do?

What do you think?

What do you say?

What do you feel?

I do not want to give up that kind of power.

Here are some definitions of REACT:

person's ability to respond physically and mentally to external stimuli

adverse physiological response to a substance that

has been breathed in, ingested, or touched

mode of thinking or behaving that is deliberately different

from previous modes of thought and behavior

External stimuli? I can live without that.

Adverse physiological response? No thank you.

Deliberately different? Sounds questionable.

None of this could be very good for me,

so why do I count on receiving it from someone else?

I don't.

And I don't react either.