We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded by requests on our time via our mobile phones, computers and other media. All this connectivity is incredible and helpful but it also makes increasing demands on our time and can lead us to feeling overwhelmed or under pressure to keep up.

In the past I’ve always believed that if people called you to ask you to do something or invite you to something you should get back to them straight away and always try to do the right thing by them… Now I’m not convinced…

Doing things because we feel we have to rather than we want to or if it’s true to who we are, is that healthy for us?

Is there a difference between being responsive and being reactive? I’m beginning to see that there is.

I can see now that in the past I’ve had a tendency to be reactive rather than responsive and this has not served me well. – What I’m starting to see is that reacting to something does not give you space to reflect and see things with perspective as they truly are. How can you give an answer to someone that isn’t clouded by your interpretation of what they are asking without having the space to reflect on what they are asking you?

I’m starting to notice that often if people request something of me my initial reaction is clouded by my habitual personal thinking about them (in other words my ego or my feelings about them) rather than the facts of what they are asking. This is also affected by my mood in that given moment. If I take a while to let this settle and see it for what it is then I can take the request at face value and respond neutrally in an honest and guilt-free way. I can also see that the feelings of pressure and overwhelm are coming from my thinking and not from the outside world or the people making requests of me.

Learning about the 3 Principles and particularly the principle of ‘Mind’ enables me more and more to see that life works out just the way it’s supposed to if I don’t get in the way. The more I’m able to trust this the more I’m able to respond to people from a more neutral and empowering context.

I’m not saying I don’t get caught up because I do constantly!  I’m finding it a difficult habit to break. However I’m  also beginning to see that the more I see my reactiveness as a habit, the more I see the illusionary nature of it which I’m hoping will lead to it dissipating more and more. After all who wants to spend their life running round like a headless chicken constantly chasing their tail? I know I don’t.