The power of reaction...

You affect the people around you and the people around you affect you. The goal is to limit the affect people have on you. Your actions do cause effect, but you can't control the behaviors of other people. They will react as they deem necessary, it's really up to them. If you use sound judgment in the action, you don't have to worry about the reaction. The behaviors of others is out of your control, the reaction of others is out of your control... but your actions and reactions are yours.

Conversely, you must remain calm when interacting with others. You can't control other people's reactions, but you surely can control yours. This you can control. Enjoy what you can control and dismiss what you can't. Actions cause consequence and reaction.

Reactions involve two parts. Immediate react and logical reaction. You can't control other people reactions and you can't worry about that immediate reaction. Call it impulse, emotion, knee-jerk, gut... what ever you want but it comes down to an instant reaction. If you can't control theirs, control yours.

Remain unaffected. The people who anger you control you. We all have emotion, check it. We all instantly react, curve it. Give it time. Even if you have to force it... gain perspective.

Take other people's feelings into account when you behave. This will limit conflict. Don't be petty,spiteful, or hateful with others and don't surround yourself with people who are that way with you. Life only happens once, treat others kindly.

Control the things you can and discount the things you can't. If you worry about the things you can't control and fail to control the things you can... you have no power over yourself. Maintain power and good luck. There is no handbook for life, just trial and error... so do you best.

Challenges...

Obstacles come in many forms and unfortunately always at the wrong time. It's not about being able to stop obstacles because you can't, life is about dealing with them. You can't stop the rain, but you can wear a coat. You can't always have thing ideal, but you can deal with them in an appropriate way.

Life doesn't exist in front of you rather inside of you. It's not your brain that tells you how to live, it's your mind. Within your mind you determine your actions. Life revolves around perception and not necessarily fact. Things are only how you see them. You are only as happy as you let yourself be. Things are only as bad as you believe them to be.

An obstacle doesn't need to be a obstacle if you don't let it bother you. A challenge is an obstacle you are ready to tackle. Life is unpredictable, preparation is only half the battle... attitude is the other half. Convince yourself that you can and you will be able to. It's your mind that limits you. Correct your mind, finish the job.

You are your worst enemy... yet you are your greatest ally. It's really how you see things... smile everyone, today is the most important day of your life. Today is the day you can control.

the two paths...

Life consists of choices. A choice is a decision that weighs pros and cons relative to the individual. When you have a choice to make, the choices may be wide and the options plenty, but your decision is up to you.

I went for a hike the other day and realized a few things. Our paths are independent to ourselves and vary from time to time. Sometimes people wanted to take an easy route, then grew into a more tenacious course... and others digressed from hard to easy. Others just oscillated between both extremes. It made me consider life.

If all consequences are acknowledged, a person's choice is left up to them. It's truly up to them to weigh their pros versus cons. We all value things in different ways unique to our own experiences, thus making it impossible to comment on someone else's selections... but people still do it.

I'm here to say that there are no wrong decisions. There are no easy paths. Some people's paths are "harder" but perhaps "shorter". Other people's paths are "longer" but "smoother". A "roadblock" to some is a "challenge" to others. It really comes down to how much do you want to bite off and how much do you want to chew... at the moment. At the moment, as long as they had the cause and effect handy, it was their right decision at the time.

Walking in the shoes of another is difficult. Judging others is impossible. Their is no handbook to life... just trial and error. Make informed decisions, challenge the mind and spirit, and raise your arms at the finish line. Today is going to be a good day and even if your path is longer than you thought it might be... you are tough enough to handle it. Smile everyone :)