A story is told about a cockroach that flew and sat on a lady’s lap. The lady was in a restaurant with her friends. When she saw it, she started screaming out of fear. With a panic stricken face and trembling voice, she began jumping up and down and with her hands in the air, desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach. Her reaction was contagious and everyone in her group registered fear. Finally, the lady managed to push the cockroach to another lady in the group; now it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama. The waiter rushed forward to their rescue. In the relay of throwing, the cockroach fell on the waiter. Seeing the cockroach on his shoulder, he stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed and threw it away with his fingers and went back to his chores.
The chaos in the restaurant could have been avoided had the ladies had the ability to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach. In this case therefore, the cockroach is not to blame for the chaotic situation. The ladies failed to handle the cockroach and thus if there is to be any blame, then it is with them.
How often do we find ourselves in situations where our inability to control our emotions results in chaos? In life, not everything that happens to us needs our reaction. Sometimes all we need is composure and just a controlled response that will put everything behind us. Most of the time, we end up getting hurt or living with hurt not because of the primary problem but rather, because of our reaction to that problem. Reactions are normally instinctive while responses are always intellectual and they tend to save the world a lot of pain. To read more posts by Gertrude, click HERE
