Comet Nwosu: Our Response to Life Happenings Matters A Lot

Be it positive or negative, our response or reaction to things and situations matters a lot. Life comes with its ebbs and flows that can shatter one’s lifetime plans in a day, but our response is what determines whether we live on to overcome those hurdles or let them win over us. Some people fight life’s obstacles, hold back from celebrating the goodness life brings, or save pain or bliss for later. Unfortunately, doing this means inflicting punishment on ourselves.

I used to think shouting at the top of my voice or being aggressive meant I’d be heard, crying all the time meant I’d be understood, or being considerate all the time meant it’d be reciprocated back to me. But I have come to learn otherwise; respect is not usually reciprocal. I have also come to realise that no matter what we do, our reactions do not change the outcome of things for us. What changes is the better mental capacity, physical stamina, emotional intelligence, and spiritual discernment it takes to live on.

Life may throw you bitterness, but it may also provide you solid reasons why you should jump at it and celebrate. Choosing to remain calm and understand what life is all about in the first place will aid you to act more authentically. In a way that, perhaps, when it all gets better (because factly speaking, circumstances flip), you’d be so proud of yourself and the method you used to handle the process.

So what kind of mindset do we need to manage life’s triggers?

Understanding that life isn’t a bed of roses

Not all that glitters are gold. Sometimes everything will be gloomy and sometimes, bloomy. Life is meant to test you as those tests will lift you once they recur or when faced with a different hurdle. So it is always important to respond matters wisely because, as it is commonly known, no condition is permanent. Just live.

Understanding that the majority of life occurrences are out of our control

Life happens no matter how good or bad we are. Even in relationships, for instance, being a good person doesn’t always mean you’d get the same treatment back. On the other hand, getting ill-treated doesn’t mean you are bad. Life presents both good and bad phenomena to both good and bad people. When some things happen to you, you may have the control or power to dice them, you just have to succumb and quit fighting what is totally out of your control.

Understanding you can’t take life too personally or seriously

Losing one’s life is irreversible. Once it’s gone, you have finished your own chapter in this world. So, there’s no need to grip on to life too seriously. Sometimes it’s best to just live. And as initially stated, living sometimes is all the best you can do. Nothing else. Taking life too personally just seems like hijacking the work of the creator and the creation of the universe because the creator already destined everything to occur. It is just an overwhelming pressure to put upon your shoulders.

Life’s success isn’t linear

Sometimes success is crooked. The path you’ve followed or been mentored to use might not lead you to the destination you seek. It’s best to enjoy life as a process rather than focus on its outcome – that’s true success. No one knows how life will turn out for them, but we can improve our chances through our efforts, whether we want it to go successfully as planned or not. Sometimes the unexpected leads us to the expected in ways we didn’t even plan. Other times, the reverse is the case.

No matter what life throws at you, your response is what matters the most. Your reaction doesn’t change the outcome of things, but it may change the course of things by understanding how to navigate when next it occurs in the future. Choosing to respond aggressively or aptly to life’s happenings is solely based on our understanding of what our priorities are. If you choose to improve your mental health for instance, then you must avoid anything that upsets and deteriorates it. On the other hand, if you want to bask in the flows of life, the comfortable parts, then you’re simply choosing to fully live.

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