If I’ve learned anything during my years, it’s that the world wants us to react. The more we overreact, the better! It’s good for business. Overreaction moves product churns a profit, validates the weak-minded, and turns people into “sheeple.”
When you’re in react mode, you become hyper-focused toward the cause. When you’re over-reactive, there’s no brain space left for the voice of reason, and you’re too overwhelmed to listen. Thus, the cause becomes inflated with hyper-emotion and emptied of fact.
Ever watch CNN?
What saddens me as a vocal survivor of sexual abuse, is that people often want me to become reactionary to abuse. They use my traumatic past as a trigger to move me into an overreaction state to further their cause. Playing to my insecurities, they try to make me feel as though I’m not strong enough to understand the situation, and so, enable me to believe that my only strength is through my reaction.
Social media has created an army of over-reactive and hyper-emotional internet warriors armed to the teeth with fancy algorithms that fuel the cycle of reaction. This cycle is born from those who are unwilling to process their pain on a personal level and it helps their reality when the external world is as frantic as they are internally.
No wonder victims don’t come forward. They don’t want to be sucked in and pressured by the oppressive lynch-mob of the pained.
The Reason for This Blog
The most magnificent reflections in my life come to me when I work out. There are all kinds of science behind why your mind opens up when you’re in beast mode. It’s the reason why many people become addicted to body movement in the first place -myself included.
Before each workout, I set an intention to learn something about my life and world. And then, I record it on this blog to encapsulate my thoughts and then share them with you.
What Was My Intention?
My intention for this workout is to work my legs. I’m in need of a good leg day. My legs are my strength, it’s one of those days to play to my strength.
How Did I Feel Before?
Physically I am A-OK. Mentally, I am powerfully energized. I’m sure you got that feeling with the opening of this post.
What Did I Do?
- Stationary Bike: 15 minutes of varying resistance for a warm-up.
- Leg curls, leg extensions, weighted sumo squats, weighted lounges (forward and backward), and weighted side squats.
How Do I Feel After?
Enlightened. But tomorrow, my legs will not feel so good.
What Did I Learn?
As I was riding the stationary bike, I was reminded by the tattoo on my arm of how I handle things in my life: “Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it.” Or as my arm simply displays: “X-XC” – roman numerals for 10 and 90.
It doesn’t matter how hard they may try, nobody has the power over my reaction to their actions.
Pro tip: If you want help making yourself little more reaction resistant, try taking at least one freezing cold shower everyday. It sounds crazy, but I can tell you from experience, it works!
Need more help with overreaction? Read this blog post:
I Will Not React Today: 3 Simple Tips to Limit Overreaction