Are there some people in your life that just push your buttons? They know exactly what to say to make you lose your cool, fly off the handle, and say things you didn’t mean to say. Most of us have people in our lives that do that, whether it’s a co-worker or a personal relationship.
When you are faced with an emotional conversation where you feel like you’re not going to be logical, and perhaps you’re going to say things that you regret, I suggest you pause and ask yourself this powerful question:
How could I respond rather just react?
How can I respond rather than react doesn’t mean not saying anything at first because you aren’t acting out of emotion. That would demonstrate that you are reacting automatically like a button has been pushed.
Truth is, you may come in contact with people in your life that do that on purpose. They just keep pushing the button. I suggest you deactivate those buttons. How? You might stop and take a breath. You might even walk away. You might even say “you know, I need to take a walk”. Do whatever you need to do to gather up your thoughts and ask yourself how can I respond rather than react? When you do that here’s what happens, you get to choose your response, and you get to choose to behave and respond in a way that’s true to who you are, not in a way that moves you to the level of where the other person is. It just takes a bit of emotional and spiritual maturity, and that requires pausing. So here’s your PQ, your powerful question.
How could I respond rather than react?
