Are there situations where you know you shouldn’t react, but you can’t help but to roll your eyes with exasperation? What are they?
Share why if you wish.
Category: Control
How Do You Resist?
In every life, there will come a time when you don’t like what is going on around you. When that happens, how do you resist?
There are many scenarios that require resistance. As a rebellious teenager, for example, you might not want to do what your parents try to force you into doing. Or, perhaps, an overbearing boss seems determined to make you do something that you disagree with.
Whatever the particulars of the situation happen to be, they have one thing in common. In each case, an authority figure with more power and resources tries to control your actions. This can be frustrating, depressing, and dangerous. You might feel helpless and powerless, at the whim of others.
The good news, however, is that history is full of examples where a smaller, less powerful force wins out in the end.
Resistance comes in many forms. Sometimes, it might mean just patiently waiting for the environment to change. Someone with more authority might step in, for instance. The boss who gives you a hard time might be fired by their boss.
Another way to resist is to mobilize and organize. There is nothing more dispiriting than to feel you are alone against a much larger, more entrenched group. But there are likely others around you that share your viewpoint, and building coalitions can help spark ideas and increase your ability to make change.
Sometimes resisting can be very public and showy, like marching in a parade or attending a protest. But more often, just throwing metaphorical sand in the gears can be effective. Can you think of ways you might do this?
How do you resist someone that has advantages over you and your point of view?
Related questions: How do you stand up to a bully? Where does authority come from? How much power does an individual have? How do you deal with situations beyond your control?
How Do You Deal With Situations Beyond Your Control?
There will always be some things in life that are beyond your control. When that happens, how do you deal with it?
Knowing the difference between things you can control and things you can’t is an important task. One of the most important, in fact. And yet, even if you successfully determine which things are controllable, some things will always elude you.
For example, no matter how hard you try, you can’t change the weather. Some days will be sunny; others rainy. If you live far enough north (or south) there will be snow and ice at some point.
Of course, while it is not possible to manipulate the weather, it is possible to do something about it. You can follow forecasts closely, and dress appropriately for the type of weather predicted. Then you won’t be caught without your umbrella, or sunglasses, or heavy jacket.
What are some other examples of phenomena that are beyond your control? And for those examples, what can you do to lessen the disruption that might occur?
Or maybe you believe that there is nothing that we can’t control if we just try hard (or smart) enough. To use our earlier example, there are plenty of historical examples of rain dances, praying to your god or gods for rain, or planes seeding clouds with crystals. We certainly have evidence of human behavior impacting the planet’s climate.
So how do you deal? Hope for the best but prepare for the worst? Ignore it and hope it goes away? Learn everything you can and try to make change, even when it seems impossible or unlikely?
Related questions: What can you control? How do you deal with uncertainty? What should you let go of? How is climate change impacting you?