ARE YOU REACTING?

“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.”- mahatria Ra

One day I received an Instagram reel of a college Principal, whose students were celebrating his 60^th birthday in college. I was, for once, happy to see a beautiful post on social media about students’ gratitude for the Principal. It was very heartwarming to see such students. This was a welcome change. I usually get to see only frustrated people making comments about even those whom they don’t know personally. Everybody has an opinion about everything. There is a lot of emotional vomiting or diarrhea In today’s world, students don’t hesitate to post memes and troll about their school, their Principal, their teachers. Having fun, for them, is to be disrespectful, tease elders, and make disparaging remarks about their own school. As the Head of an institution, do I get affected by such memes and trolls?  I simply smile at their lack of culture and move on. I have better things to do. The goal of every goal is peace. If we wish to be peaceful in life, we need to sometimes ignore, look the other way, pretend to be deaf, turn a blind eye, move away, or simply smile, when the world is insensitive, indifferent, nasty and incorrigible. We cannot correct people. But we can choose to either react or respond.

There are different kinds of people in the world. Not all of them will be well disposed towards us. Some don’t care, some others may be jealous, some may be loving and caring and some will be concerned. Even if we don’t have people in our lives who love us, care for us or are concerned about us, we can be such a person in somebody else’s life. Don’t get upset about what people talk about you, or how they treat you. What is important is, do you love yourself enough. If you love yourself, you will not be bothered about the world, as you will feel complete unto yourself. Self-love is a state of appreciation for oneself.

When I was a child, people’s rude behavior used to upset me a lot. The way they treated me would hurt me. Probably because I did not love myself. I felt less about myself. I would not talk to people who treated me badly. With all the wisdom I have been receiving, everything about my life has changed. Today I understand that people behave badly because they have a problem. They gossip about others because they are not happy. They trouble others because they are not peaceful. They talk ill about people because they don’t enjoy good relationships. Small minds discuss people; great minds discuss ideas. In each of these cases, they are not happy people. Why should I lose my happiness and peace over such people?

Better sense prevailed ever since. I have learnt to leave small things small. I am more focused on what I can give the world and not what I can receive from the world. Since I have developed a good self-image, I know who I am. I don’t need the world to endorse anything about me. I am my best critic. When a doctor tells you that you are reacting to the medicine, it is not a good sign. Either your body is not accepting it or there are side effects seen. When he says that your body is responding to the medicine, it is a good sign. You are on the road to recovery. Similarly, whatever the situation, people are a bundle of emotions. Not all are emotionally balanced. Many also lack emotional maturity. Their immaturity should not affect us. Develop a good self- image and feel good about yourself by growing in your own eyes. Let’s learn to ignore people who don’t deserve our attention. Let’s RESPOND to the world and not REACT!!!

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting