Do you feel like you’re at the mercy of your emotions? Have you ever done something in the heat of the moment and then instantly regretted it? Do you want to learn how to be more conscious with your actions? If you said yes, this post is for you.

Every action you take affects how your future will play out, whether you realize it or not. How often do you act out of unconsciousness? How aware are you of the impact that each of your daily actions has on your life experience?

Most of your daily actions seem subtle but continuous – in any given snapshot of experience, they may appear meaningless, yet over longer periods of time, these small individual actions combine into something much more substantial.

How Tiny Decisions Add Up

Think of all the conscious and unconscious decisions that you make daily: where to sit on the bus, how to talk to the store clerk or barista, how you look at someone in the street, what time you go to bed, what you click on through social media. Think of all the little decisions that you make each day.

Each of these tiny choices shift the course of your life and that of those around you. You end up in different places at different times, with different mindsets and ideas, and different emotional states and predispositions.

The impact is compounded by the way others respond to your choices. For instance, if you smile and show kindness to someone, they are more likely to pay it forward and show kindness to someone else. The same applies for seemingly negative interactions. The way you interact with people creates ripples throughout the community.

Emotional Autopilot

When you take action unconsciously, it’s an automatic reaction based on your emotional state at that time. Think of it as an emotional autopilot system: the emotion determines the reaction, the feedback to the reaction determines the emotion.

This feedback loop can spiral out of control sometimes, especially during heated personal arguments. Each individual is hunkered down in their emotional bunker unable to see past their perspective, the rift grows deeper as their reactions to each other become increasingly fiery and hurtful.

Now imagine that a little more consciousness was brought into the scenario. Instead of immediately reacting based on emotion, there is a pause and an attempt to understand where the other person is coming from.

With a little empathy, it is possible to see that the hostility could be stemming from a feeling of being hurt, disrespected, or attacked. From that empathetic standpoint, action can be taken to understand the core issue (the root of those feelings) and resolve the situation that led to that.

Taking a conscious pause allows you to see past the face of the emotional reaction in order to uncover its roots.

How to Respond to Angry People

Thankfully, most interactions in day to day life are not as intense as a personal argument, though they certainly can be if you go around projecting a bad mood onto other people and situations. If you encounter someone that is openly angry and disrespectful for no apparent reason, the first thing to realize is that their emotional state most likely has nothing to do with you personally. It’s a buildup of unprocessed emotion, and any perceived slight or wrongdoing can set them off.

If you don’t take it personally, and choose not to react to the people you encounter each day, you can instead choose to act out of loving kindness. Perhaps a simple gesture can brighten that person’s day? All it takes is a little compassion sometimes. If it turns that person’s mood around, at the very least they will be less likely to lash out at other people through out the day.

Simple acts of kindness without any expectation. Sometimes that is all you need.

Building Awareness and Staying Conscious

We all slip into emotional autopilot from time to time, observe when that tends to be for you. Is it when certain subjects are brought up in conversation? Is it when you see certain people? Or perhaps when something reminds you of a past experience?

Once you realize what tends to trigger your own emotional autopilot system, you can watch for those scenarios as they arise and work on staying present instead of spiraling into reactivity. When you feel yourself slipping into that state, count 10 exhales and focus on your physical senses. This will help ground you.

Ask yourself: How can I make a positive impact by choosing to show more love and kindness through my thoughts, words, and actions today?