The corollary is also accurate. Every time you respond, you are no longer blonde.

We all have our blonde moments. It’s called being human. To react is to be human. It’s what we’ve been conditioned to do. The quality of conditioning varies from person to person but we all get it, and it causes us to recreate the same reaction to the same stimulus every time.

It’s hard to imagine our mind as a “click-whir” mechanism but that’s exactly what it is - a highly sophisticated stimulus/response machine.

We like to believe we are above all that and ignore all the evidence to the contrary that we react like trained seals in the circus.

The sameness we experience and complain about in life is directly caused by our programmed reaction to all the stimuli that life offers.

The way to prove this is to ask yourself, “What do I react to the same way every time?” When you get your answer, you will have the answer to why your react the same way every time - you’ve automated the reaction.

The reaction has a life of its own, separate and apart from you. It’s not you reacting; it’s your stimulus/response mind on auto pilot.

The way to keep this automated reaction glued in place is to be “right” about it. The minute you add being on the side of the angels to any automated reaction, you now have a reaction on steroids - a raging reaction that’s artificially big.

Responding is the spice of life. It removes the sameness from our life and creates new connections in our mind helping us to connect better with others.

Begin to notice how much you exclude from consideration in life when you automatically shut a door before it can open and let something new in.

Discover what happens when you consider, even for a moment, another response to a programmed reaction - even one you’re right about.

The initial discovery is that there are other responses to pick from. The deeper discovery is that selecting one of them offers you new life and new connections. It’s like discovering you have a large box of crayons to color your world with instead of the gray one you always use.

We’ve all heard about the strategy to count to 10 before saying anything when you’re upset. Sadly, the normal result of that tactic is only to delay your initial reaction by 10 seconds.

The beauty of picking a response is that you involve yourself in the communication process versus letting your programmed publicist deliver another predictable reaction for you, one that has all the excitement of wetting cardboard and watching it crumble, again.

If you like your history, by all means reenact it.

If you’re looking to write new chapters and make new discoveries, open the door labeled “Response” and see what pops out.

The only risk you take is taking your life off hold.

All the best,

John