Have you heard of 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, with both her
hands 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 the turn of the other
lady in the group to
continue the drama. The waiter
rushed forward to their rescue.
In the relay of throwing, the
cockroach next 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
grabbed it with his fingers and
threw it out of the restaurant.
Sipping my coffee and watching the
amusement, the antenna of my
mind picked up a few thoughts and
started wondering, was the
cockroach responsible for their
histrionic 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 disturbance
caused by the cockroach that
disturbed the ladies.
I realized that, it is not the shouting
of my father or my boss or my wife
that disturbs me, but it's my
inability to handle the disturbances
caused by their shouting that
disturbs me. It's not the traffic
jams on the road that disturbs me,
but my inability to handle the
disturbance caused by the traffic
jam that disturbs me.
More than the problem, it's my
reaction to the problem that creates
chaos in my life.
Lessons learnt from the story:
Do not react in life. Always
respond. The women reacted,
whereas the waiter responded.
Reactions are always instinctive
whereas responses are always well
thought of, just and right to save a
situation from going out of hands,
to avoid cracks in relationship, to
avoid taking decisions in anger,
anxiety, stress or hurry.
