Every day we are inundated with all sorts of experiences, some we see as positive. Others cause us pain. And still, more is generally neutral in their appeal, but most of us don’t have a plan to deal with the things we face consciously in a manner that makes us the force behind the outcomes of our lives. Most of the time, we react through a series of subconscious thoughts and emotions which arise automatically to any stimulus around us.  This moment is where we have a chance to take the controls of our life and steer it where we want to go.  Just for one day, imagine you chose to react to everything in a manner that projected your best self to the world.  Here is a simple formula to focus on to build mindfulness of action.  Events + Response= Outcomes, E +R = O.

Events

From the first moment you open your eyes in the morning to the time you close them for sleep the next night, you are faced with a nonstop stream of events. You are waking up, breakfast. You are running late. Someone is in your way at the gym.  Traffic is bad. Someone calls out of your work and makes your job more challenging. A project is assigned at work. Someone is rude to you.  You drop your lunch on the floor.  Your coworker is very annoying. There is a nonstop stream of these things happening to everyone in the world all day long.

The thing about events is that we have very little control over them.  They can be brought on by others’ actions, nature, or God, but we are generally going to face a lot of things in a day that we didn’t create or ask for in any direct way.  That is what makes the challenge. Many of the events we face are designed to bring a challenge into our lives, and in meeting that challenge, there is the possibility for growth.  Since growth is the purpose of life, learning to embrace all events will lead to the most favorable outcomes. We have little control over events, and they are going to happen whether we like them or not.

Response

This is the area where you have the opportunity to make all of the choices.  All of our responses are 100% in our control.  No matter what happens to you, nobody but you can decide how you respond. Drop your lunch on the floor, and you decide if you let it ruin your day or if you see it as an opportunity to eat something else. Or you can be grateful that you have something else to eat.  Someone cuts you off in traffic, or a loved one leaves a mess behind on their way out the door. You decide if anger or something else is the right way to respond to that situation.  Since you control your responses, always that means you are responsible for every aspect of your life.

Think about it, even if you are making subconscious choices about your responses, based on beliefs you hold from your upbringing and experience, you are responsible. Therefore you can create anything you want to. Look for the good in a challenge, see what it can bring to you that may not have been there before.  What growth came to you because of the events you faced? There is always something you gain and some way you grow, and development is the purpose of life.  You are responsible for your story, your reactions, and, therefore, the value of your life and all of the outcomes you experience.

Outcomes

Since you can react any way you can, then creating the life you want to have is achievable to everyone. We can choose to quit if things are too demanding. We have the talent to persevere and find a positive result even if we fail at first.  Choosing to learn lessons, apply them on the next attempt until we finally succeed is the recipe for success. In your job, your relationships, hobbies, and every aspect of your life will result from your reactions.

Challenges are going to come to everyone. When our reaction is to face them and learn what we need to know from them and become a better person in some aspect of our other alternative is to continue to get run over by the things we face in life. The simple choice of growth or stagnation of things. Right now, with no filter, our lives are a direct representation of how we have approached this little equation of life.

Take a moment today and evaluate how much you have let things out of your control, put you in a bad mood, or taken a pessimistic look at life.  Then try to spend an entire day deciding how to react to events positively. Some people will be incapable of seeing around their beliefs. It seems too daunting a task and too scary to let go of the things they cling to.  Life is a journey, and we may not always get to choose the transportation, but we still have the option to enjoy the view or not.

E+R=O

“It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.”  William James

“A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, and it sparks extraordinary results.”- Wade Boggs.

“The POSITIVE THINKER sees the INVISIBLE, feels the INTANGIBLE, and achieves the IMPOSSIBLE.”- Winston Churchill.