Reactionary

First responders are not reactionaries: Their preparation is thorough; Their systems are perfected.

The trauma in Haiti is horrible. And not too long ago there was the earthquake nightmare in Pakistan/Azad Kashmir, and just before that, the tsunami in Southeast Asia. Major loss-of-life tragedies of this sort are the predictable result of natural catastrophe combined with non-existent building code, social safety net and security/police systems.

I dedicate this post to first responders the world over: firemen, policemen, search and rescue specialists, paramedics, EMT’s and NGO/military disaster relief experts and technicians. These are the heroes among us who, in quiet times, will tell you preparation is the best offensive stance for coping with emergency.

Dictionary.com defines the word “reactionary” in the political sense, describing someone who is averse to change. But here in the free world I get to come up with my own definition. Here it is:

“A reactionary is someone whose default life-posture is defensive; an unprepared individual who spends the majority of his or her time adjusting to unwanted events.”

In the developed world where basic needs are met, one can choose not to be a reactionary. In most of the third world there’s little choice. 

Cacophony. In these lives we lead, immersed in our surroundings, it’s not surprising that too many of us see the world as an unpredictable cacophony. Lights are flashing, physical objects are moving around, incoming sounds and stimuli are constant. The people around us want this or that. In work and family there is constant clamor. We face the personal requirements of our own bodies and those of whom we care for. Without letup, there are problems to be solved and goals to be reached and we must always pay attention so important details don’t drop through the cracks thus causing physical, financial or relationship problems. Some of us are constantly in a defensive alert mode. 

But there is more to our lives than this, and going “one layer deeper” can provide substantial relief. So let’s investigate underneath these every-day demands and stimuli in order to devise a simple personal management perspective that will allow us to not just cope with the events of the day, but to direct events to our own personal advantage. It’s a simple thing really, to move from the defensive to the offensive; to manage our days to produce the results we want –  to seize control of things. And in the process of getting to this place of control, we will find that the world is not a dangerous minefield. Instead, what comes into vivid focus is that the world is a friendly place with plenty of options, and ready to do our bidding. 

(The requisite disclaimer: Of course there is personal pain in the world, as illustrated by the natural disasters noted in the introduction to this essay. I’ve said this before: I am not a Pollyanna. Yet, despite the fact that in any life there are periods of mental and physical pain, most of us spend our days in relative peace.) 

At the core of things, what each of us wants is control of our own destinies. But if our default positioning is dictated by undesired events, control can’t happen: We become “reactionaries” as we constantly compensate for these bad results.  How can we possibly get control of things if we are constantly defending ourselves against an onslaught of bad results? 

Getting a grip on our lives begins with getting a more accurate grasp of how the world mechanically operates.  

First, understand that the world-systems around us are operating at 99.9% efficiency. (Here’s a video/meditation entitled “Remind Me.” It beautifully illustrates the near-perfection of life’s fundamentals; fundamentals that most of us don’t think about. “Get” this subtle yet powerful insight to the world’s impeccability, and a powerful appreciation of life will follow.)   

Are you distressed or discouraged? That’s in your head! Despite whatever mental negativity you might be feeling in the moment, the world outside continues to operate at incredible efficiency. Here’s a post entitled Your Intuitive Leap is Imminent in which I try to further illustrate that point. 

Second, know that as the day progresses, each result or condition we encounter is the end-result of a system – a singular underlying sequence of events. A reactionary goes through the day in a superficial way, dealing with the bad results of unseen and therefore unmanaged systems. In contrast, people whom I call “system improvement specialists,” spend their days assertively managing their underlying systems. They don’t spend time reacting to bad results because they have engineered their systems so bad results are minimized. 

And in “working” their systems, desired good results are maximized. 

Ignore your underlying systems and there will be chaos – and the coping mechanism for chaos is defensive, last-minute fire-killing. It’s an awful way to spend one’s life. Better to manage the systems of  life to produce the results desired, while at the same time causing 90% of potential problems to not occur. Yes? 

Here are some every-day occurrences fostered by a reactionary mindset, in each case followed by the opposite, system-improvement approach. 

• Your web-enabled phone is interrupting you all day long. I’ll lose some of you here: It’s OK to turn the damn thing off for big portions of the day. Myself, I don’t use one at all. Look around. You see people hunched over their iPhones and Blackberries, thinking they are handling things oh-so-efficiently when the reality is that they can’t ever experience a calm, prolonged train of thought because at any time there could be “incoming.” They’re ever-alert and…reacting! Many gauge their effectiveness/importance by the amount of data streaming in and how quickly they can respond: More and faster is better! This is attention-slavery, a perfect illustration of the reactionary mindset that leaves little room for creativity. 
• You are overweight. There is a dysfunctional pattern within your physical body-system that delivered you to this place. Instead of reacting by making excuses, trying to hide the bad results and making empty promises to yourself, dig deep to see that you must physically adjust the system-pattern that is creating this bad result. Change what and how much you eat, and get regular exercise. Act on your body-system; don’t react to it. Work your system! 
• There is a recurring problem at work and you react by correcting the problem each time it appears. Instead, take time to examine the problem quietly and deliberately. In a 1-2-3 linear format, write out the steps of the process that includes the problem. You’ll find that the problem occurs because there is a flaw in an existing system, there is no system in place to prevent the problem or, sometimes, the problem is the result of an outdated system that can be altogether eliminated. This 1-2-3 step analysis is assertive action taken on underlying system structure to produce more good results and less bad results. 
• Your child is pushing your buttons, making you crazy. The problem lies in the parent-to-child control system that either is misdirected or, more probably, doesn’t yet exist. Examine your relationship with your child. (See Parenting is a Job: The Systems Mindset Dissection.) 
• Political events are constantly stirring you up. Stop reacting and understand that unless it is your vocation, political gyrations are out of your control. This one is easy: Stop fretting about systems you can’t control and focus on systems you can control. (Personally, it’s one of my biggest challenges!) 

Here it is again, at the risk of beating this simple message to death: We can’t get what we want out of life if we are reactionaries, constantly trying to adjust for the bad results of unmanaged systems. One at a time, we must dig deep to identify the systems that are creating the bad results, get inside them to see what’s up, and then make necessary adjustments. This is system improvement! 

We must become system improvement specialists! 

And regarding first responders: Are they reactionaries? Not in the sense of what I’ve discussed here. Responding to unexpected traumatic situations is their job. That’s what they do, and know for sure that their systems are perfected and their preparation is thorough – opposite of the reactionary personality I discuss here. 

Finally, this question: Can we inoculate ourselves against all personal pain and tragedy? No, of course not. But, as we negotiate our days as system-improvement specialists rather than reactionaries, we will not only significantly reduce the number of imperfect results, we will become strong and resilient, well prepared to tackle the inevitable hard-times that are part of living a life.

Photo by 111 Emergency via flickr used under a creative Commons License.

Tagged as: control, emergency, first responders, mechanics, mindset, reactionary, safety net, systems, systems mindset, unpredictable stimuli