“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” -Viktor Frankl (Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist)
Life comes at us quickly. All of us at some point go through life on auto-pilot—maybe for some of us that is an hourly occurrence or maybe some of us find ourselves drifting in and out of this rhythm. When we are in this mode, it is easy to respond to situations or circumstances with little thought.
What if you could slow things down and make decisions from a place of more thought and awareness?
You can do this and it is all about pausing. Pausing to ponder and consider choices with regards to processing and thinking about external events. Pausing between stimulus and response. This allows you to be fully conscious and self-aware of your response.
I challenge you to stop, breathe, and notice what you are experiencing in whatever situation you are in. Notice your innate reactions to certain stimuli and reflect on those reactions and emotions created inside of you in a non-judgmental way. This can be when you are enjoying yourself in an activity that you love, doing something that is stressful, or just in casual conversation with someone. After the pause, you are able to respond in a way that is more reflective and genuine than impulsive and perhaps hurtful to yourself or others.
Remember that you always have time to pause and decide on what your reaction is going to be.