RESPONDING V
S. REACTING Responding carries with it the positive idea of moving favorably toward another person. Reacting carries with it the idea of resisting or backing away from another. Whether you respond or react will be determined by your assessment of the person in question. For example, identical twin girls grew up with an alcoholic father. When they reached adulthood, one twin became an alcoholic, the other an abstainer. The sisters were interviewed by a psychologist. The psychologist asked the first twin why she became an alcoholic. She responded, “Well, what do you expect from the daughter of an alcoholic?” In a separate session, the psychologist asked the second twin why she became an abstainer. She said, “Well, what do you expect from the daughter of an alcoholic?” What happens to us in life is not nearly so important as how we respond to it. People Power by John Noe, page 72
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