An Apt Reply
Proverbs 15:23
A man finds joy in giving an apt reply - and how good is a timely word!
Professor Pavlov had a dog. Each time he rang a bell he fed the dog. After time, he rang the bell but didn't feed the dog. The dog salivated anyway. To the dog the bell ringing meant food was coming, so it salivated. Steven Covey calls this a reactive response.
Stimulus ~ Response
Covey suggests that we (humans) have the ability to respond differently. He teaches that we can think before responding. When something acts as a stimulus we have the ability to think prior to reacting. He calls this a proactive response.
Stimulus ~ Think ~ Response
Frankly, I tend to respond to the stimuli of the world more like the animals. And O the pain I've caused from speaking my mind without first engaging it (my mind)! However, I'm learning to exercise my ability to think before I react. There really is joy when I respond with a fitting answer to the situation, but it takes thought and thought takes time!
Let's build up the people we meet today by engaging our minds before engaging our mouths.
I'm thinking...
Lon
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1 comment:
Maybe we can get a little brain buzzer that will remind us to think after every stimuli we receive. Thanks for the good word Lon!
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