"Your first reaction is your past. Your intentional response is your present." -- yung pueblo
Raise your hand if you've ever reacted to something in a way you later regretted. Ah, yes. I see a lot of hands. Notice my hand is raised as well.
We all react strongly and emotionally to certain things. We lose patience with our kids. We snap at our partners. We get mad at our boss. We react in the moment based on a lifetime of previous reactions and programming.
But we know we're growing if we realize how poorly we reacted. We can make up for the reaction by telling the other person we were wrong to react the way we did. We can try not to react as negatively the next time a similar situation arises.
It might not be possible to eliminate all of our negative reactions. We've got a LOT of triggers and a LOT of emotions. But it is possible to reflect on our initial reaction and then intentionally respond like a more mature adult.
Let's not beat ourselves up too much about our negative, overly-emotional reactions. Let's move on from them and make amends with a thoughtful response.
Make it a great day!
Coach Chris