At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly
flew from somewhere and sat on a lady.
She started screaming out of fear. With a
panic stricken face and trembling voice,
she started jumping, with both her
hands desperately trying to get rid of
the cockroach. Her reaction was
contagious, as everyone in her group
also got panicky. The lady finally
managed to push the cockroach away
but ...it landed on another lady in the
group.
Now, it was the turn of the other lady in
the group to continue the drama.
The waiter rushed forward to their
rescue. In the relay of throwing, the
cockroach next fell upon the waiter.
The waiter stood firm, composed himself
and observed the behavior of the
cockroach on his shirt. When he was
confident enough, he grabbed it with his
fingers and threw it out of the
restaurant.
Sipping my coffee and watching the
amusement, the antenna of my mind
picked up a few thoughts and started
wondering, was the cockroach
responsible for their histrionic behavior?
If so, then why was the waiter not
disturbed? He handled it near to
perfection, without any chaos.
It is not the cockroach, but the inability
of the ladies to handle the disturbance
caused by the cockroach that disturbed
the ladies.
I realized that, it is not the shouting of
my father or my boss or my wife that
disturbs me, but it's my inability to
handle the disturbances caused by their
shouting that disturbs me.
It's not the traffic jams on the road that
disturbs me, but my inability to handle
the disturbance caused by the traffic
jam that disturbs me.
More than the problem, it's my reaction
to the problem that creates chaos in my
life.
Lessons learn t from the story:
• I understood, I should not react in life.
• I should always respond.
• The women reacted, whereas the
waiter responded.
Reactions are always instinctive whereas
responses are always well thought of,
just and right to save a situation from
going out of hands, to avoid cracks in
relationship, to avoid taking decisions in
anger, anxiety, stress or hurry.
