Reacting and acting: how circumstances shape our lives.

I decided to check with an AI platform, what it would say about action and reaction, and the circumstances, which are the unseen hands behind everything. Here you are, with a few modifications:

 

The Soul's Journey: Navigating Reactivity and Conscious Action

In the labyrinth of existence, our lives unfold through a delicate interplay of reacting and acting, all orchestrated by the unseen hands of circumstance. As spiritual beings on a human journey, we are invited to contemplate the profound wisdom embedded within this dance.

Reacting, often an unconscious reflex, emerges from the depths of our conditioning and past experiences. It's the instinctual response triggered by external stimuli, woven with the threads of fear, desire and ego. In the struggle of reaction, we find ourselves made to advance by the currents of emotion, sometimes losing sight of our true essence.

Yet, amidst the chaos of reaction, there lies a sacred pause – a moment of choice, full of possibilities. Here, in the stillness of our being, we have the power to awaken to our innate wisdom and act from a place of conscious awareness.

Acting consciously is the art of responding to life's unfolding with grace and intention. It's the practice of aligning our actions with the whispers of our own self, the soul, guided by the compass of love and truth. Through conscious action, we become co-creators of our destiny, creating the tapestry of our lives with threads of authenticity and purpose.

However, it's essential to recognize the role of circumstance in shaping our journey. Circumstances, both benevolent and challenging, serve as the crossroad through which we may evolve and expand. They are the hindsight mirrors showing the lessons we are here to learn, inviting us to dance with them.

In the alchemy of life, our reactions and actions become the brushstrokes painting the canvas of the soul's journey. Each experience, whether joyful or sorrowful, offers us an opportunity for growth and transformation. It is through embracing the full spectrum of our human experience that we come to know the depth of our being.

As we navigate the ever-changing landscape of existence, let us remember that we are not mere passengers, but divine orchestrators of our destiny. Let us embrace each moment as a sacred gift, infused with the wisdom of the cosmos. And in the tapestry of our lives, may we find beauty in the interplay of reacting and acting, knowing that every twist and turn serves to lead us back home to the essence of our true selves.

 

It is interesting that the AI is making us reflect… Yes, a little too dramatic for my taste, almost Shakespearean, but let us remember whatever is in the AI comes from us.

So, I invite you and myself to do exactly that and by thinking, change something in your life, in my life.

Building castles in future lands

What is the antonym of nostalgia, a longing for the past? As far as I know, there is no such a word, but unfortunately, it exists in terms of behavior.

I remember a few people who wanted to go to a special program in United States and they didn’t have the visa. Particularly one person who just went to order her passport called me asking for the weather at the place she was going in the US… (to which she didn’t have ticket, visa and not even the passport!)

An image I have in my mind: there are people who build castles in lands that don’t even exist, and they start to live there. As it may happen with nostalgia, they are probably frustrated with the their present and so the possibility of a future that is different than the present they are living makes them leave this place… without really leaving it, just an experience in her mind.

It is quite risky; after all, they have to work, take care of their children, their own health, to talk with friends and do all a person who must do in our society. People who live in these future castles sometimes are careless in relation to their present hut.

There is an even worse frustration as sometimes it happens that their imagined future is not what they were expecting. It may be totally different – a manor instead of a castle – or a maybe unexpected experience – can you imagine to CLEAN a whole castle??

If you really want to live in a castle one day, start with one brick today, another tomorrow… The future does not take place in our imagination but it will be the fruit of whatever we are sowing right now.

You don’t complain about any situation, because you are the one who designs your life – Reason 76

If there is a claim to be made, that is fair and there should be instruments to help with it, but there is something wrong in a growing trend of complaining.  Complaints seem to give a false sensation to the complainant that things are being solved, and that is very far from truth.

Leaders feel their lives are designed by themselves, so that complaints don’t have a room in their lives.  So, when things go wrong, what do they do?  Instead of complaining, they endeavour every day to improve their reality.

A leader tries his or her best to understand the situation and find a solution and if it is a conflict with another person, leaders try to dialogue with others and reach some reconciliation.

Leaders don’t complain; they reflect and act.

(Excerpt from the book 82 Reasons to be a Leader)

Dreams become reality – Reason 47

Everyone dreams, but leaders embody their dreams and at some point, turn them into reality.  How?

Just as with any person, a leader’s dream comes from many sources: aspirations, inspirations, other people’s lives and even movies.  Leaders take a step further: their dreams are not only imagination, but they are a valuable experience.

That experience the leader is going through generates a reflection, which is a very important stage into converting dream into reality as it enables the leader to understand that dream and how to make reality change into it.

From reflection, the leader acts, changing his or her life so that a change is welcome and the dream stops being a dream and is a part of life.

(Excerpt from the book 82 Reasons to be a Leader)

When you reflect on a decision before you make it, you then give it power - Reason 1

Normal people go and do whatever they want, and because of that the results are ‘whatever’.

A leader thinks first, then acts.  As a consequence, the action is far more effective and the result will be many times more effective.  The reason is that reflection has the power to turn actions into a magic that makes dreams come true.

Not only that: all actions cause a reaction – a consequence.  This means a person can easily get wrapped up and trapped into a cycle of actions and reactions.  A leader will create a relationship between action and reaction that will be just like a seed and a fruit. 

With awareness a leader realises every performed action is a seed that bears fruit. And that fruit then goes on to produce many more seeds and fruit of the same.  One action will go on to produce not just one result, but will inspire many more actions and results

That action, after reflection, becomes much more than an ordinary action. It is special, valuable and extraordinary, and its creator is that too.

(Excerpt from the book 82 Reasons to be a Leader)

A riddle in our lives…

Who am I?

This question is probably the easiest one, for which we give our names, profession or status, depending on who is asking. Besides the truth, we can even lie or tell half-truths as a response. So, it is an easy question, right? Easy answer…

In fact, all we do, all we have and all our different states depend on the response, mostly the answer we give ourselves, because it is our identification that is our awareness, and according to the awareness the rest happens.

For instance, if your response is that you are a very talented person, it will be probably easier for you to look for a good job as you will have enough self-confidence to do that. However, if you think of yourself as someone without training or education, result will be different.

A reflected answer of this question may solve the biggest problems in the world and your biggest difficulties too. Who am I? Think about it, then decide and act.

Values: satisfaction from within

Values are not only nice words… they are effective means to accomplish success.

Every action comes into reality due to a value or another. Its role is narrowing the how’s in relation to the action’s purpose. For instance, if your purpose is to help other people, then your values will help you to define how to do it – by becoming a nun, a good parent or a visionary entrepreneur.

If your values tended in such a way that being a nun would make you act and help more people than being an entrepreneur, but you made the wrong choice and you are working everyday until ten pm, your life will lack in satisfaction and the sense of accomplishment. If you made a good choice and still working until 10 pm, you will feel happy everyday with the sense you are doing what you always wanted to do.

By following your values, your actions are full of meaning and they come directly from within – it is not something artificial, done just because of the present fashion or someone else’s wishes.

It means you need to pay more attention to your personal values and understand them very well.

• Differentiate what you really are from what you would like to be. In every culture, there are some values people assume everyone has and so, they don’t work on them. Be careful about it and very honest with yourself; if you don’t have a value or at least you don’t use it very often, it is important to accept it and work on that, developing it at a satisfactory point.
• How to develop a value? After identifying the value to be developed, or adopted, there are basically two ways for a person to do it. First, find a role model who helps you to understand what that value means in life – if I am honest, how does that look in a couple relationship? Second, to go on a spiritual path and by reflecting, contemplating and meditating, naturally improving the presence of a value in your life – by meditating, I feel more secure within, so honesty is easy, my words and actions express what I really am to other people, including my partner.
• Being a value keeper. Values are very fragile in the present environment where there are too many options and ways to perform an action. It is important to keep reflecting or meditating. Also, become a role model yourself, showing others how to tap into that value and make it part of your life.

By valuing your values, you are changing your own life.

Horror, honor or reflection and action?

The numbers for the flow of migrants has reached a very dangerous point in human history and although many people would say that it was always like that or it was the same after this or that war, it is not true.

For starters, nowadays, there is no continent free of a critical migration flow (a minimum of 5 or 6 thousand people at a time). But typical of humans, instead of looking for definite solutions, we choose other paths.

Yes, emergency is there; if a building is burning you wouldn’t think of the reason… First, rescue survivors and anything that can be salvaged and later, we would check what is going on. So, it is understandable that under such a tsunami of refugees, we look for the safe shelter of solving it right now.

But that is not a solution, and we all know it. In fact, Europe has not committed to take as many refugees as the number that would be coming.

However, the horror made that honor was awaken. Well, honor still exists. Personally, I thought it extinct, present only in books and B Movies. But it is around…

Honor awakened creativity and love, compassion and the desire of doing something, anything. From the heart many ideas emerged like my favorite one: buying an island and starting a new country…

In Colombia, where the crisis came due to the expulsion of more than 5,000 non-documented Colombians from Venezuela, honor made the government take the matter and offer a basic structure for them, like jobs and houses.

And yet… That is not touching the depth of the situation. Islands, jobs or houses won’t stop the migration forever, it may mitigate it and it may reduce our sense of guilty as a community, but it is far of solving it.

It is time our leaders de facto take over their real responsibility: reflecting on the situation and acting accordingly. Nobody wants more speeches or promises; nobody wants things that we have been doing for ages and we know that solution would be small and for a short time.

However, there are solutions, and many. Written by scholars and common people there are solutions that can prevent migration in that scale or at least, create a humane structure for these people in despair.

Maybe you are that leader… Maybe you are the person who can reflect and act, and change history. Just get up and go there, with your big idea in your mind and hands ready for action.

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Marcelo Bulk is a business consultant, author and coach. He has been working on his own self for more than 30 years by meditating and serving as a volunteer