Peace & Poetry

I’ve once heard it said that 90 percent of life is external forces that we cannot control and the other 10 percent is our reactions to these “uncontrollable” forces, which we can control. I’m not sure how accurate those statistics are but the underlying principle makes sense. 

In physics, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The same is somewhat true in human interaction, except we have the power to control our own reactions. It’s easy to respond to an attitude with an equally rude attitude, though it is more beneficial to rise above negative energy and respond with a higher reaction. Positivity is a greater force than negativity. 

Whether we have the power to control 10 percent or 60 percent of life, the reality is that many of us sell ourselves short and completely yield all power to external forces. I’ve often found myself falling into the trap of running away from accountability and blaming my discontentment in life on the store clerk who was clearly having a bad day, or the professor who wouldn’t give us an extra week for the essay that we had nine weeks to work on, or the guy who honked at me when I’m already going 8mph over the speed limit. 

In each of these situations, one party made a choice based on present circumstances, and in turn, I too must make a choice about how to respond; one that I’m responsible for. Let’s take the impatient driver for example: I could choose to get upset and flick him off as he passes, and he could then choose to point a gun at me. Perhaps it’s an extreme example, but it shows how my negative reaction to a negative force can result in an even greater negative reality. In contrast, I could choose to let him pass and give a courteous wave which changes his entire mood, and maybe he then treats his wife a little nicer when he gets home. Of course you never know, but that’s where faith comes in. Faith is a greater power than logic. 

This brings us to a foundational spiritual law, every action has an equal and greater reaction. Meaning, negative reactions will create greater negative forces, and positive reactions will create greater positive forces. Your actions will determine your reality. In other words, you reap what you sow.

Don’t worry about things you cannot control. Acknowledge it for what it is, and choose the greater force which is positivity. The circumstances will not change immediately, but if you keep choosing positivity, having faith that your reality will change, you will begin to experience things greater than you’ve ever imagined.