100Pedals ISM #2: Life is a continuous series of challenges and opportunities — how we respond to them defines the progress, effectiveness and experiences of our journey.
- Life doesn’t happen to you, it happens with you.
- You are an active participant in life’s events — you are there, you have always been there, and you will always be there.
- When life shows up, your first thoughts and actions are emotionally based — this is your reaction to them.
- These are manifested in emotional behaviors such as pain, hurt, joy, betrayal, fear, excitement, love, happiness, loss, or more.
- There is a significant difference and result between a reaction and a response.
- A reaction is a physical or non-cognitive expression of your emotions at work.
- A response is a cognitive process for dealing with the situation from this point forward.
- There is little need spending time managing, understanding, or dealing with what cannot be changed.
- Your priority in adversity is organizing your thoughts in relation to your purpose, your vision, and your values.
- These are best defined by your commitment to who you are, where you are going and what you stand for.
- It is important to follow your heart provided you are following the heart that understands your purpose, vision, and values.
I am a highly, energized emotional individual. Throughout my life, I have been very effective at reacting to situations. Many times my emotions often got the best of me. Through the experiences of the past few years, I discovered that feeling, experiencing and connecting with my emotions is an important part of the learning process. I also learned that nothing is accomplished when I react emotionally to events. As I have developed more clarity and focus around my purpose and my values, I have discovered the power of responding to events rather than reacting to them. In this shift, I have found more peace, wasted less emotional energy, better understood my responsibilities in these situations, maintained better progress on my journey, and more successful in honoring my commitments. The first step in the process is to be more clear in who you are, where you are going and what you stand for. When you successfully and clearly define you, responding to live’s challenges become great learning experiences not distracting, emotional episodes.
Over the next few weeks I will sharing 100Pedals ISM‘s. An ISM is an “Inspiring, Simple Mantra.” It has been two years since I began my personal transformational journey known as 100Pedals. Over that period, I have shared over 200 perspectives, thoughts, and experiences through articles or blogs on this site. Yet, I am not completely confident that I have succeeded in clearly defining what 100Pedals is. In order to more clearly define 100Pedals, I am going to share some of my core beliefs and experiences in an organized manner. Hopefully this will more clearly define the beliefs, values, and philosophies behind 100Pedals.
