Action, outcome, reaction.

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I can control my action.

I cannot control the outcome.

I can control my reaction.

Comments

Anonymous said…
indeed..i can control my action and reaction but never the outcome :)

happy weekend,Richard!
April 20, 2007 9:59 PM
Mother of Invention said…
Yes, we're supposed to be able to, but it's easier said than done. Some responses are so quickly synapsed, they're out before you even have time to think of how you could control it. Same with feelings...they flood in like waves...I always need to analyse them after and then just try to tone them and tweak them if they're not appropriate or healthy for me.
April 21, 2007 10:39 AM
vina said…
this is soooo true.

though it can be quite hard to control reactions/emotions.
April 23, 2007 8:20 AM
KayMac said…
gets better the more you think on it!
April 23, 2007 1:11 PM
B said…
such a simple tenet and how easily it seems we imagine we don't have control over our actions and reactions. this quote comes at a crucial time for me. i am increasingly aware that i have more control than i exert and really am focused on living this tenet more fully.
April 24, 2007 1:07 AM
Richard said…
ghee: thanks, ghee!

MOI: a fundamental tenant of Stoicism is that we are rational beings and should comport ourselves as such. I am not terribly reactive. I tend to analyze first. Maybe too much so.

vina: self control, like anything else, requires practice and discipline. As far as I am concerned, the name of the game is not control, but redirection. Do we think first, act later? Or act first, think later?

kaymac: thanks. Not being able to control the outcome can be frustrating, especially when we set up our actions in the hope of an expected outcome. Some outcomes are more certain than others, though.

breal: I think it comes from my love of Stoic philosophy. Stoics, unlike Cynics, are fully aware of their surroundings and environment (Cynics tend to be insensible or numbed to the world around them), but choose to act in accordance with reason.
April 24, 2007 11:12 AM
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