Knee jerking

What is the best way to stop inner doubt and old knee jerk reactions to outside occurrences? I notice that I will often respond to “unpleasant” news, situations, interactions, etc. with anger or victim-like consciousness. Later after I cool off or clear my head I can see it in a better light, but my initial response is an old, old seemingly engraved reaction. Many thanks.
– Going Downstream, Napa

AHHH the old knee jerk, it happens to the best of us. The operative word here is happens which implies that we are reacting as opposed to responding. In many ways your knee jerk is a wonderful indication to you, as it is reminding you that you have momentarily disconnected from your self and have come undone. When we are momentarily disconnected from ourselves we allow ourselves to be thrown off balance. We do not feel good in our disconnected state and we have a person or situation to blame. Funny thing though, we may feel justified in our place of disconnection but we do not really feel good so it is hard to sustain. When you finally cooled down you had the opportunity to either choose to feel like a victim to circumstance and actively recreate your “old seemingly engraved reaction” or step into a feeling of appreciation for having the visceral reaction that has fully gotten your attention. In the end it does not matter what you choose, either hang onto the victim feeling and feel justified in doing so OR move along with some new clarity for yourself, the important thing is that you have chosen and when we choose we can no longer feel like a victim. We have now stepped into our power, have reconnected with ourselves and made a conscious choice for ourselves.