When something unexpected happens in our day, big or small, our reaction to that event is entirely up to us. As Ward Farnsworth says in The Practicing Stoic:
We don’t react to events; we react to our judgments about them, and the judgments are up to us.
It’s not unlike something Donald Miller has shared before, stating:
We respect people who react a little under, not over, the level of drama a situation deserves.
David Allen talks a lot about having a “mind like water”, meaning that we respond appropriately to new things that come our way. Just like a pond will provide a small splash when you toss in a small rock, and a big splash from a big rock, we should scale our responses appropriately.
Sometimes a big reaction is required, but the appropriate reaction is always the one to aim for.
