Choose Your Response
How much control do you really have over your life?
Probably less than you’d like. We can’t control the economy, other people’s decisions, unexpected setbacks, or many of the challenges that come our way. Yet one thing always remains within our control—the way we choose to respond. That choice often determines whether adversity defeats us or develops us.
In early 2020, the COVID pandemic brought much of the world to a standstill.
Restaurants across the country were forced to close their dining rooms almost overnight. Many saw no viable path forward.
Thousands permanently closed their doors, and countless employees suddenly found themselves without jobs.
JCW’s The Burger Boys, a restaurant chain in Utah, experienced the same immediate crisis. Their business dropped by more than fifty percent almost overnight. They, too, faced the possibility of closing their restaurants and laying off more than 240 employees.
But instead of asking, “Why is this happening to us?” they asked a different question.
“How do we move forward?”
They shifted their focus to drive-through service, delivery, and every available alternative. Rather than surrendering to the circumstances, they adapted to them.
Not only did they survive…
They thrived.
The difference wasn’t the challenge they faced.
Every restaurant faced the same challenge.
The difference was their response.
Life will inevitably throw curveballs at every one of us. Some people will see those challenges as dead ends. Others will see them as opportunities to adapt, innovate, and grow.
Perspective influences that choice.
One of the characteristics that separates human beings from the rest of the animal kingdom is our ability to respond rather than simply react. We possess the remarkable ability to pause, reflect, and choose our next step instead of allowing circumstances to dictate our behavior.
That pause creates leverage.
It gives us the opportunity to replace emotion with wisdom, fear with courage, and panic with purpose.
Charles Swindoll reminds us that life is only ten percent what happens to us.
The other ninety percent is how we choose to respond.
As leaders, that may be one of our greatest responsibilities.
Not controlling every circumstance…
But controlling ourselves.
Reflection Questions
What challenge am I currently reacting to instead of responding to?
Where do I need to create space before making my next decision?
How might a different response create a different outcome?
Challenge
Today, when something unexpected disrupts your plans, don’t react immediately.
Pause.
Reflect.
Then ask yourself:
“What response will move me—and those I lead—forward?”
Because while we rarely control the circumstances…
We always have the power to choose our response.
