Reaction Wounds

 

As I was driving today I was listening to the Knowlefge for Men podcast and the guest was Neil Strauss. 

He made a comment on the podcast I thought was interesting and I wanted to share it with everyone. 

The statement was:

"Where there is a reaction, there is a wound." - Neil Strauss

Let that sink in for a minute... 

Repeat it to yourself a couple of times and let it sit with you for a few minutes. 

That is a pretty profound self awareness statement. 

Just think about some of the conversations you've had recently with your spouse, co-workers, family, or friends. 

How did "You" react to some of the things they said to you or about you? Did you react badly? If so could this be a deeper wound from your past that has never really healed?

An example could be you are having a conversation with someone you know and they make the comment "why are you always so worried about how much things cost? Or if you'll have enough money to buy this it that?" 

You immediately get defensive and reply "Do you think money grows on trees? Do you know how hard I have to work to get that $100? I just can't be throwing money around, I need to save it."

Could this response be because of the way you were raised? 

Or maybe you didn't have a lot of money growing up and you couldn't do the things you wanted to do? 

Maybe you grew up in a depression? 

It could be any number of things from your past that maybe you haven't truly dealt with yet.  

You may not know how to solve your internal issues and strife immediately, but if at the very least we can use this statement as a tool to help us know our triggers and reconize when we have an internal issue.

Then at least we have identified it and can begin to see it for what it is and from that perspective we can then start to work on a solution. 

If your ultimate personal goal in life each day is to try to be better than we were the day before. 

Then this is one tool we can all put in our toolboxs that should help us achieve that goal. 

Thanks Neil for the statement, it was a huge help. 

If this statement helped you like it did me please reach out to Neil on Twitter at @neilstrauss and tell him "Thanks" for sharing his knowledge with all of us.