R is for Reactive.

I was discussing the difference between proactive and reactive with my dietitian counselor during our last session. I don’t claim to be more reactive than proactive nor vice versa. I know there are moments when I’m more reactive and there are moments when I’m more proactive.

I think we were discussing about my mom who is the reactive person in the house. It takes very little to cause her to throw her little annoying tantrums. In fact, she threw a classic tantrum a few weeks ago when I was calling customer service, trying to sort out my phone and internet bill. The reason for her tantrum was simply because she was trying to locate a piece of information in her sister’s bedroom and her sister was taking her time coming back from the next door.

She started lecturing in a volume that made me unable to hear the person on the other end of the phone. “I’m sorry, can you please repeat that?” I said apologetically as my mom stormed upstairs to yell at her sister some more.

In some ways, I’m the same way. After all, 50% of my DNA did come from my mother. So when I told my dietitian I sometimes want to scream back but inside, I felt that it would be a futile thing to do, she asked me to practice being proactive instead of reactive. To be honest, it’s not as easy as it seems and I’m still working on it.

Theme: Emotions

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