Most days I can sum up my existence as how I respond to what happens.

And it’s fairly straightforward sometimes – smile when I see my dogs, laugh when my wife is being goofy, nervous when work is super busy and excited on Friday evenings for the weekend.

I suppose those are your basic responses to recurring events.

But then there’s the more complicated happenings of the world, which require responses beyond the usual or logical. Like when a friend breaks your heart. Or you discover a deep anxiety that leaves you scrambling. Or during friction in relationships caused by two people just being different.

These are the big leagues. And your responses become important. They determine the future of a relationship with someone else. And often, affect your relationship with yourself.

Responses in these situations are not just verbal. But your actions, inaction, silence or, if you are of the sort, your volume; all count as responses.

So what do you say? Or as they once put it – what say you?

I’m obviously not going to provide a one answer solution to all earthly situations.

But I suppose we could consider what a response needs. Let’s start simple – thought. We need to think about what we say before we say it. Words like many stores, have a no-return policy. You are much better off taking time to think or better yet, asking for time to think about your response. If your response is to a person, it shows you care enough about them to consider your words. 

A second important one would be – truth. Will you be honest or will you lie? I’ll leave this one alone, as grey areas are highly situational. But truth is preferable, I am told by many.

While there’s many things to consider, I’ll cap it at three – perspective. Try to think from many sides. Other shoes can be too small or too big, and you don’t need to walk a mile. But try them on for a moment, just to see what it looks like for them.

Okay this one is too important to miss – so I’ll leave it at four. Values. I sincerely hope you are someone with values, some sort of a code. Not complicated, but important I’ve found. Like an inner compass. Your responses to what life throws at you, have to align with who you are as a person. I guess this can be summed up as – be yourself. I say this in the hopes you are a good person, so this one is on you.

I feel like I’ve gone deeper than usual, but I’m finding my way back to writing, so take what you will and leave the rest ^^

In closing, I’ll say this. Whatever you do or say, sometimes it may feel like it won’t matter. And yeah, if the sun explodes later today, I suppose it won’t. But until that time, as you and I live our lives, we do so holding hands with the consequences of our actions. It’s not about always doing or saying the correct thing. That’s unrealistic.

No, it’s about who you choose to be everyday. And how every decision, weaves the fabric of you!