Rev. Fr. Raymond Osei Tutu Motivation of the week, Raymond, Raymond Osei Tutu kenneth.ashigbey September 12, 2016 0 Comments

Let’s all learn to think before we act

“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it” (Charles R. Swindoll).

Imagine how the servant girl, Rhoda, felt when Peter came to the door after miraculously escaping from prison. Acts 12:13-14 – He knocked on the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!”

Our first response is “What was she thinking?? Leaving Peter standing outside when his very life could have been in danger!” That however was just the problem; Rhoda was not thinking. She was reacting emotionally to a sudden and shocking turn of events.

Acting without thinking is a classic human characteristic. It takes great discipline to learn to think before we act. An old saying that I heard many times in seminary formation was, “Put your brain in gear before your mouth!” I must admit that I am still guilty of reacting sometimes instead of acting. Learning how to respond to a situation rather than just reacting to it brings huge rewards. Needless to say, it is one of those behaviour changes that are easier said than done. However it can be achieved.

In this week, pay close attention to the results of your reactions. By bringing the negative consequences to your awareness, may you be motivated to change your spontaneous reactions to purpose driven responses. “Speak when you are angry and you’ll make the best speech you’ll forever regret.” ~Laurence J. Peter.

Finances, relationships, responsibilities, and life in general can certainly create a great deal of emotional noise in our heads. However, if you truly want to feel inner peace, you must take the time to learn to be mindful (positive emotions) instead of mind full (negative emotions). This, and only this, will allow us to respond to life instead of reacting to it. You have to find a way to stick to the actions that must be taken. You can’t let those actions always be dictated by things out of your control.