This step focuses on reducing "reactivity"—the tendency to be jumpy, hot-wired, "at the mercy" of stressors, out of control, and easily provoked into acting in ways later regretted. Examples of reactivity are:

• chewing someone out for some minor lapse in expected performance
• throwing something at the wall
• jumping to conclusions about a person or event with very little information

Normally, when we are reactive, we feel our hearts race, we may sweat more, and we "can't think straight."

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