PENSIVE: Being Proactive

By Sarah Mahmood

Nothing's going to change because 'they' are all bad. Our system's a failure and the politicians are corrupt. My mom makes me do it and my teacher's the real cause of my failures. Everyone's crazy and the environment is simply not conducive!

Identify these? These are the statements made mostly by people who are reactive; those who blame circumstances and all the rest of the world for their own failures, who fail to act proactively, when the situation demands.

One of my favourite books, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen R. Covey (which I quote pretty often), describes reactive people as those who "focus on the weaknesses of other people, the problems in the environment, and circumstances over which they have no control. Their focus results in blaming and accusing attitudes, reactive language, and increased feelings of victimization." Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Yes, we all are victims of reactive behaviour. Next time you feel like blaming others, just sit down, take a deep breath, ponder a little, and think about what YOU can do to improve the situation.