When You Can’t Change the Situation

Change Your Response to It

I’m not always successful with this approach and you probably won’t be either, but I’ve found it to be a good place to start. Three things to do:

• Just be where you are. Let the present situation be what it is instead of what you think it should be.
• Do not regret the kindness and respect you have shown to the wrong people. Your behavior says everything about you, and their behavior says volumes about them. Carry on… with grace.
• Let go. Don’t overreact. You don’t have to join every fight. Most situations won’t make one iota of difference soon.

Think. Sit quietly with your situation. Resist the urge to respond in the same old way you always have.

I like to write about it in my journal, let it rest a couple of days and come back to it. Often mental/emotional space opens up for a new approach.

While you may not be responsible for your current situation, though often you are, you are responsible for your thinking, feeling, and action responses.

Which Comes First?

• Thought / Action—Action / Thought
• Thought / Feeling—Feeling / Thought
• Thought / Belief—Belief / Thought

Almost all “situations” contain thought triggers, or memories real or imagined, which produce a wide range of responses—emotional, physical, behavioral, etc.. Our awareness of these triggers and our habitual responses to them completely dictate the quality of our life… regardless of circumstance.