When I woke up this morning, I still had the headache I went to sleep with. I got up, took a new headache medicine, and went back to bed. Two hours later my headache was gone, but the tissue under my left eye was swollen like a bee had stung me.

On the back of the medicine bottle, it said that side effects could include facial swelling. Crap. Oh well, I thought, at least it didn’t happen this weekend when I had important things to do, and I needed to look normal.

I thought about the phenomena of our bodies, how they venture in one of two ways: responding to something or reacting to it.

Responding to medicine is a good thing, it usually means the body is adapting well. But, if the body reacts to the medicine, it is considered a bad sign, that the body is fighting it, and thus having a “reaction.” It is the same with life. Do we respond to things or react to them?

I used to to react to things in a pretty aggressive tone. A few years ago, my husband’s company suddenly switched locations for our move, after I had spent a few months preparing myself for the original move. (Plus we were moving to a place I really wanted to live.) I was livid, and sadly used most of the swear words I know.

In the end, the switch I had “reacted” to so aggressively, turned out to be in our complete best interest. Needless to say, I was left feeling a little guilty and ashamed.

I often forget that most times, I cannot see the big picture of my life, and even though I want to choose road A, I am prevented from seeing that around the corner, road B might have what I truly desire.

It took me a number of years to work out the frantic lack of control I felt when things didn’t go the way I thought they should, or how I had planned them. Gradually, I realized that when I responded to life instead of reacted to it, I felt more at peace, and things actually turned out much better in the end.

I think of “reacting” as lighting a match. One strike and we are on fire. I think of responding as bodysurfing a wave.

If we tried to walk out of the water towards shore, the waves would pummel us and probably hurt us in the process. However, if we watch the wave and go with its motion, it will carry us towards shore quite efficiently.

After my eye swelling, I went to do a few errands, deciding to use my free time to get a coffee and read at the coffee shop. However, I was popular today because everyone wanted to be where I was. There were so many cars that I had to drive the long way and sit in traffic to find parking.

I surprised myself by being extremely patient as I went with the flow. I ended up finding the one parking spot that was not metered, meaning that I could park for free and read as long as I wanted, without having to worry about running back to my car or stressing about quarters.

In the coffee shop, I was so happy about my parking that I didn’t mind waiting a long while for the lady in front of me. When I ordered my drink and pulled out my card, the barista with the soft voice and kind eyes said, “It’s on us. Thank you for waiting.” I gave him a big smile and thanked him.

As I sat in the corner, sipping my yummy latte, I thought about how my day could have gone differently had I “reacted” to my eye swelling, to the ludicrous traffic, and limited parking. What if I had been a witch about waiting in line at the coffee shop?

Everything in life takes a path that is ultimately chosen by us. Sometimes we don’t get to choose what happens to us or around us, but we do get to choose if we will Respond or React.

Both fires and waves spread with kinetic energy, but I’ve never seen someone safely ride a fire.

This week, take the challenge, to respond to things instead of react, to ride the wave instead of set a forest fire.

The mind and heart will be thankful for the rest, and we may experience a little thing called trust in the process.

With Love,

Z :)