The second in my essay doubleshot.
Difficulties are something everybody encounters. At some point in life everybody meets a problem that seems too difficult to handle. While everybody has them, how someone reacts to them is what truly determines how difficult they actually are.
Some will immediately say that circumstances, not reaction, are responsible for determining the difficulty of a situation. They are simply mistaken. Circumstances can only have so much influence, because they are, in fact, circumstantial. A circumstance can be avoided, it can be changed, and, in some cases, it is brought about only by someone’s reaction to other difficulties. If a person reacts to a difficulty by assuming that he cannot fix it, then the difficulty will only get worse as it continues to fester and grow unabated. If someone reacts with an attitude of being able to conquer any difficulty, he is more likely to succeed in removing the difficulty from his life, as he will attack it head on and go straight for the root of the problem.
It is true that, no matter what someone’s reaction, he can’t control the reactions of others, which can make the situation even worse. This is a good argument, but it misses a very important point. Others reactions are, whether a person admits it or not, influenced greatly by someone else’s reaction and attitude. People are naturally inclined to take on the attitudes of those near them. As the illustration goes, if several lightly positive people are put in a room with one strongly negative person, by the end of the day the entire room will be negative. Conversely, if several lightly negative people are put in a room with one strongly positive person, by the end of the day the entire room will be positive. If the individuals care for their own reaction, the rest will follow suit.
Even with the effects of reaction on others and the difficulty, those effects mean nothing without the last effect of reaction. This most important reaction is whether or not someone chooses to rely on God to carry him through his difficulties. The best thing someone can do is to ask God for help, because He is the only one capable of changing everything.
Reactions are the most important thing in determining how difficult a situation is. No matter what someone faces in life, his reactions are what make the difference. Not circumstances. Not people.
