Yesterday I was going through my e-mail and found a message telling me that a certain public representative was supporting pornography in schools, denying parents the right to visit the classroom, and closing out public input on school curriculum. Well, that got my attention. . It was well written, it got my blood pumping; (there are fewer things which make me take note than a threat like this to my own grandchildren) but I began to notice that there was no substantiation behind these claims. It took a couple of hours to understand what had happened to me: I let my emotions cloud my own judgment. Someone was using the anonymity of the web to either discredit this candidate, or discredit a program.
Had I let my emotions, my gut reaction to this implied threat, get the best of me, I might have been tempted to join in this witch hunt. Fortunately I did take the time to ask, ‘But Is It True?’
I have written before about the caution of believing what we think, and this is another example of just that type of re-action. Taking a stand before we know all the facts has dire consequences. Before you go gathering firewood for the pyre, it is always a good idea to determine who is behind the information you may be acting upon.
Ask yourself, am I acting from knowledge, or RE acting from past experience?
For more thoughts about Acting, or RE acting, please read my first book, Think, Believe, Receive