The Cockroach Theory for Self-development;

Response Vs  Reaction 

At a restaurant, a cockroach  suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on
a lady. She started  screaming out of fear. With a panic stricken  face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her  hands desperately trying to get rid of the  cockroach.

Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her  group also got panicky.

The lady finally managed to push the  cockroach away but ...it landed on
another lady in the  group.

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to  continue the drama.

The waiter rushed forward to their rescue.  In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the  waiter.

The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed  the behaviour of the cockroach on his shirt.

When he  was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and  threw it out of the restaurant.

Sipping my coffee and  watching the amusement, the antenna of my
mind picked up a few  thoughts and started wondering, was the
cockroach responsible  for their histrionic behaviour?

If so, then why was the waiter  not disturbed? He handled it near to
perfection, without any  chaos.

It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies  to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that  disturbed the ladies.

I realized that, it is not the  shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs  me, but it’s my inability to handle the disturbances caused by  their shouting that disturbs me.

It’s not the traffic jams  on the road that disturbs me, but my
inability to handle the  disturbance caused by the traffic jam
that disturbs  me.

More than the problem, it’s my reaction to the problem  that
creates chaos in my life.

Lessons learnt from the  story:

I understood, I should not  react in  life. I should
always  respond. The women  reacted,  whereas the waiter  responded.

Reactions are always  instinctive whereas responses are always  well thought of, just and right to save a situation from going  out of hands, to avoid cracks in relationship, to avoid  taking decisions in anger, anxiety, stress or  hurry.