Thoughts: Response, reaction & oh, yeah, changing the world….

I love Brandon Stanton’s “Humans of New York.” He talks to ordinary people & they say the most ordinary things, which stick to you, and make you come back for more. I really liked this one, in an exchange he had with a South Asian couple:

“It is important to maintain your equanimity. You cannot let yourself get too ‘up’ or too ‘down’ based on your circumstances.”

“Too ‘down’ I understand. But why not too ‘up?’” Stanton asks.

“Because the higher your mountains are, the deeper your valleys will seem. You should not react to the world. You should respond, but not react. A response is an action based on logic. A reaction is an emotional state. Your reaction will not change the world.

“Your reaction only changes you. Your response will change the world.”