The Cockroach Theory for Self Development

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady. 

She started screaming out of fear. 

With a panic-stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping – waving both hands and desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach. Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky.

The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away, but it landed on another lady in the group.

Now, it was her turn to continue the drama.

The waiter saw this and rushed to their rescue.

In the relay of throwing, the cockroach now fell upon the waiter.

The waiter stood firm, composed himself, and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt.

When he was confident enough, he carefully grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.

While sipping my coffee and watching this incident, a few thoughts came to my mind and I started wondering.

Was the cockroach responsible for their strange and dramatic behavior?

If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed?

He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.

It is not the cockroach but the inability of the ladies to handle the nuisance caused by the cockroach that troubled the ladies.

Suddenly, I realized that it’s not the shouting of my boss or my wife that upsets me – it’s my inability to handle my reaction to their shouting that disturbs me. 

It’s not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me – my inability to handle the disruption caused by the traffic jam bothers me.

More than the problem, it is our reaction to the problem that creates chaos and restlessness in our lives.

Therefore, do not react in life. 

Always respond.

Reactions are instinctive, and their outcome may not always be good.

Whereas responses are always well thought out.

The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.

To save any situation from getting out of hand – 

To avoid rifts in relationships, one should always work with patience and avoid taking any decision in anger, anxiety, stress, or haste.