I used to think that I was my own person.
Until I met a man name Smith. Doctor Smith. No joke, that is his actually name. I went to him last spring semester on the advice of a good friend of mine. We talked. Well, he talked and I listened. And listened. Not the most pleasant of times but time well invested (as the saying goes, Time is Money).
One thing he did tell me, in so many words, “Are you reacting or responding?”
It took me a while but I figured out what he was talking about. Reacting is like shining a red light in front of a cat. The cat responds by catching the light, or at least try to =D Or a little kid crying because he is hungry and not stopping till he is fed. Responding would be the little kid asking his mother calmly for food or waiting until dinner. It is drawing upon the past experiences and lessons learned to form a response to an outside stimuli.
I’ve realized now that learning to make one owns choices out of a logical process of information instead of simply acting on the very “first impulse feelings” encourages growth that I’ve never noticed. Like doing some task for another person because you feel guilty versus doing it because you want to.
It is strange to think that one believes when is finished growing but the next day, another lesson is learned. I guess you really don’t leave school.
-Poetria
