Story of how to Respond, not React!

There was a large puddle by the side of a road. As a lady was walking on the sidewalk, a car drove through the puddle and she was drenched head to foot. Shaking with rage, she glared at the car as it drove away. Then she looked around at the other people looking at her, and worrying about what others could be thinking of her, she stuffed her anger down inside and walked on with an icy expression. She was very angry and upset the whole day. This little incident had spoilt her day (and if she is not careful she could spoil the day for others too).

A little later, as another woman walked by on the same sidewalk, a truck drove through the puddle, and dirty water splashed all over her. Shocked, she looked down at her drenched clothing for several seconds before bursting into laughter. And as she walked on down the sidewalk, she remembered all those times as a child that she and her friends had played out in the rain, stomping puddles and laughing with delight.

An hour later, as another woman walked by on the sidewalk -- all dressed up and on her way to an important meeting -- a car drove by through the puddle, splashing the muddy water all over her. First she felt shock, and then began shaking with rage. Not caring what anyone around her thought, she screamed at the top of her lungs, and people stopped and stared at her. Feeling better from having gotten that immediate anger out of her, she took a deep breath, released it, and walked back the way she had come to remedy the situation, by placing stones in the large puddle and filling it up and chuckling at how ridiculously funny life can be sometimes.

We have narrated three different kinds of response to the same situation. One reacted with suppressed anger, another lady responded with a smile and the third reacted, reflected and then responded with a cheerful, ‘you-can’t-destroy-my-happiness’ attitude. Life and wellbeing is all about making choices and another choice we can make in life is to use the positive power of response rather than use the negative power of reaction.

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Learn from Mistakes

One of the most popular story was that of Edison relating to his inability to invent the electric bulb. Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, “All our work is in vain. We have learned nothing.” Edison replied very confidently, “Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a lot. We know that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb.

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