No response needed

Don't panic

Easier said than done

I recognize

No matter what happens

No matter what surfaces

You need not have an instant reaction to it

You need not let your mind and emotions jump ahead

of the reasoning in your heart

And your heart

At least mine

Is a light; almost distant drumming

That needs quiet and solace to be truly heard

And understood

Not that you don't want to jump out of the way of a speeding car

Or catch your child as they slip and fall

but barring true life of death immediate response necessary moments

And most often even in those

A few moments of quiet contemplation are perfectly acceptable

And most oft needed to ascertain exactly what one should do

If anything at all

Just because your bated

Or engaged

Doesn't mean you need respond

Or play along

Sometimes just acknowledging the game that is trying to be played

Is quite all that is needed

And nothing else

And absolutely nothing else

********

Sometimes

When I'm feeling stressed out

I tell myself

"I don't have to say anything"

"I don't need to do anything"

"Absolutely nothing at all"

"No response is mandated"

"Nothing"

"I can just be"

"Just be"

And that alone makes me feel a sense of relief

A sense of calm

Now

Does that mean I let people mistreat me or others?

Does that mean I don't duck an object whirling in my direction?

No. it just means I evaluate each situation for what it is

And recognize that more often than not

My response is not needed

Just observing

Just being aware

Just being conscious of what is happening

Seems to be more than enough

Not always

But mostly

And stopping

Mindfully watching

Grasping the entire situation (as best I can given what I know then)

And responding to that directly

In what I believe to be the best way possible

Without letting emotion take the lead

Or my mind talk me into what "should be"

Has saved my life

More times than even a cat could admit to*

*because a cat (supposedly) has 9 lives. Get it?  I love being funny. Although my kids tell me I'm not funny. I laugh!  Doesn't that count?  Here again they say no. But I say yes. So there!  (Insert smile tongue out emoticon here)