Many of us often feel the equivalent of a sucker punch when we interact with our coworkers. Using the sucker punch analogy, let’s go through the process of employing the affirmations in Creating Love and Joy to enhance our workplace relationships.
Let’s look at a scenario where one person unintentionally says something or does something that hurts another person: person A SUCKER PUNCHES person B.
Observers (other people) see the interaction, and “interpret” the body language of persons A & B. Using each of their own backgrounds and experiences as a framework for interpreting the body language, the observers each draw different conclusions about what just happened between persons A & B. Then, the observers act and react, consciously and subconsciously manipulating the situation according to their own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Perhaps the observers have only good intentions when they react. However, their interpretation and subsequent action may, or may not, be appropriate. It is possible the observers misinterpret the situation or don’t understand the whole picture. Or, their backgrounds and experiences lead them to view the situation that may not represent the views of persons A and B. This is how the “grapevine” or “gossip mill” distributes information in the workplace.
Let’s refocus back to persons A and B. Remember the fundamental premise in Creating Love and Joy: We reap what we sow. The key to sowing the seeds of constructive relationships and harmony is to focus on the REACTEE (Person B), not on the puncher (person A). It is person B who has the free will choice to decide how they will react -- to person A, and to the observers.
When a person gets sucker-punched, two things might happen, based on a free will choice:
1. Person B can react by punching back, adding negativity, or generating other forms of discord; OR
2. Person B can react with an “OOPS”: Although there may be immediate pain in being sucker-punched, we always have the free will choice to step back before reacting by taking a few deep breaths, counting to 10, or otherwise detaching from the emotions and physical sensations of the sucker punch.
Once fully detached, Person B can now make an informed, free will choice about the type of seed they would like to sow in the universe. They can quickly evaluate what the “ripple effect” of a return punch might bring back to them. Person B, who has already been sucker-punched, can control only one aspect of this situation at this moment: their own reaction. They have several choices: punch back, walk away, or communicate they just felt sucker-punched. Punching back sows more discord. When a person punches back, they plant a seed of discord. That seed has a RIPPLE EFFECT on the WHOLE WORLD! Other choices can open the door to constructive relationships.
KEY POINT: While we may have an impulsive, knee-jerk reaction to being sucker-punched (based on our background and experiences), we still have a FREE WILL CHOICE about how we will react.
KEY POINT: It is the person feeling the negative consequences (person B) that has the choice to either amplify a negative ripple effect or minimize it. The potential for an ugly ripple effect can be minimized by a free will choice to NOT punch back. By communicating that s/he just felt sucker-punched, Person B can let Person A know that something is not right, without sowing the seed of discord. A simple “Oops” or “UUfff!” can communicate that the equivalent of a sucker punch just occurred. Or, communicating a “friendly reminder” that something is not right with the situation, is another way to react without sowing the seed of discord.
Remember: “I am light protecting me from all harm (Creating Love and Joy, p. 78).”
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