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You Do Not Have to React

                 Someone once asked Wayne Gretzky what made him such a good hockey player and he said, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been”. 

                I like that quote because it speaks about making good decisions and being intentional rather than being reactionary.  That has been a hard lesson for me to learn.

                For most of my life, I have lived in a reactionary mode.  When people would come to me with a request or a demand, I would often drop everything and do what they wanted me to do.  If someone was upset about something, I felt pressured to try to solve their problem, or at least be equally as upset as they were, whether I cared or not. 

                The problem with living a reactionary life is that you spend your time focused on what is urgent rather than what is important.  When you are being reactionary, you will choose the quickest and most pain-free solution, because the goal is to calm things down as quickly as possible. Therefore, you never see past this moment and this immediate issue.

                On the other hand, when you are being intentional and choosing the best answers rather than just the easiest ones, new opportunities become available.   Living intentionally allows us to focus on our real priorities.

                This reminder is even more important right now.  People are upset, on edge, and worn out.  Social media is a firestorm of reactivity.  However, you do not need to be dragged into the drama.  You do not need to be pushed around by everyone’s opinion. 

                Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the one who does not walk in the way of the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither”.  Blessings come when we spent our time on the right things.

                There are times when you must respond to people’s needs, but you cannot constantly live that way.

                Keep the big picture in mind and focus on what is most important!

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