# Response > Response assigns positive meaning to circumstances while reaction rejects what happened; the meaning you choose determines the effect you receive. - Canonical: https://sassani.app/topic/response # Response Bashar draws a sharp line between responding to a circumstance and reacting against it. A response is a chosen meaning given to what happens; a reaction is the refusal to give any meaning at all beyond "this should not be here." The teaching treats this distinction as the practical hinge on which present-moment power turns, because what you put out is what you get back, and the meaning you assign to an event determines the effect you then receive from it. ## Response versus reaction Bashar states the contrast directly: response is positive, reaction is negative. A response is the willingness to believe that everything happening in your life happens for a reason, and to approach it that way and give it that meaning, whether or not you intellectually understand how that could be so. Reaction, by contrast, is the stance that "this has nothing to do with me, why is this here now, I am patient to get out of this, I don't understand why this is here, I'm afraid to look at it, I'm denying, denying, denying." The two are not different descriptions of the same event — they are different energy states. Response treats the circumstance as belonging in your reality, as your co-creation, and trusts that it is there for a positive reason; acting as if that is so is what brings back the reality that shows you it is so. Reaction treats the circumstance as an intrusion, which cuts you off from the only place you can actually do anything with it. ## Another person's intention does not dictate your response The same distinction applies when the circumstance is another person's behavior. Bashar separates recognizing someone's intention from choosing to feel attacked by it: you can recognize they may have the intention to attack without you having to feel attacked — these are two different things, two different energy states. Neutrally registering what someone else is doing does not, in itself, determine how you choose to feel in response to it. The teaching frames the choice of response as your own, regardless of what is being offered. Neutrality is the position from which the recognition happens: from the neutral place you have the ability to choose the positive, recognizing negative energy present without expressing or experiencing it. Another person's intention toward you in no way, shape, or form determines how you choose to feel in response to it; that is your choice. ## Acceptance is the precondition for changing what you respond to Bashar is careful that "responding" is not the same as passively tolerating a circumstance forever. Accepting what is going on in your life does not mean you have to prefer it. Accepting it for what it is teaches you how to change it into what you prefer, whereas denying what is in your life does not give you the ability to change it. You can only use the energy that is actually in your life to create something else; you cannot change what you do not own. So response begins by acknowledging that the circumstance is your creation, letting it reflect what you believe, and then — if you do not prefer it — choosing a different belief. This is why Bashar treats the present moment as the only point of power. If you do not live in the now — the only place you exist — you have no power to do anything. Being here and now means knowing that whatever happens is happening so that you can decide what will happen next, and therefore it can always be looked at as a positive thing. ## Practical implications Choose the meaning first. When something happens — especially something you would habitually call negative — the practice is to assign it a positive meaning before you understand how it could be positive. You do not always have to know why; you only need to act as if it is so, and let the reality that shows you so follow. Catch the reaction in motion. Reaction announces itself in language like "why is this here?" and "I have to get away from this." Notice the denial, and treat the noticing itself as the moment a habit becomes a choice again — the precondition for changing how you meet the next moment. Separate recognition from experience. You can acknowledge another person's hostile intention without choosing the experience of feeling attacked. Neutrally naming what is happening is different from absorbing it. Own it before you change it. Acceptance is not resignation; it is the ownership that makes transformation possible. Treat the unwanted circumstance as information about a belief you hold, then decide what you would rather believe. Stay at the point of power. The here-and-now is presented as the only place action is effective. Drifting into past-justification or future-escape is described as leaving the only location where a different next moment can be chosen. ## Representative passages You need to learn the difference between responding to something and reacting to something. Response is positive. Reaction is negative. Response is simply the willingness to believe that everything that happens in your life happens for a reason and to approach it that way and to give it that meaning whether you intellectually understand how that could be so or not. But to trust that it is so, and thus act as if it is so. When you act as if it is so, you will get the reality that shows you it is so.— Bashar, Higher Self (higher-self#qa-4) You can recognize they may have the intention to attack without you having to feel attacked. These are two different things, two different energy states.— Bashar, Choosing To Understand And Express Only Positive Energy (choosing-to-understand-and-express-only-positive-energy#qa-2) The idea of accepting what is going on in your life now doesn't mean that you have to prefer it. What I'm saying is that, however, if you accept it for what it is, accepting it for what it is teaches you how to change it into what you prefer, whereas denying what is in your life does not give you the ability to change it into what you prefer. You can't change what you don't own.— Bashar, Higher Self (higher-self#qa-6) ## Related - [Presence](https://sassani.app/topic/presence) - [Definitions & Beliefs](https://sassani.app/topic/definitions-and-beliefs) - [Responsibility](https://sassani.app/topic/responsibility) - [Trust](https://sassani.app/topic/trust) - [Positive State](https://sassani.app/topic/positive-state) Markdown twin of https://sassani.app/topic/response. The HTML page is the source of truth.