Here’s something encouraging.
And powerful.
“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.”
Growth. Freedom. Yes please.
Even now?
Especially now.
Victor Frankl experienced this “space between" while in a prison camp in WWII.
He went on to write that in that gap one has the “ability to choose one’s attitude in a given set of circumstances.”
We are definitely in the middle of a given set of circumstances!
And as we all know too well, this can bring a heaviness. Fatigue. Lethargy.
We're using so much bandwidth to handle the uncertain circumstances right now that it feels like there's no reserve left for anything that's non-essential.
The stress is real.
Click here for an article about pandemic stress and how to calm it.
The desire to get lost in a bag of chocolate covered pretzels and Netflix is strong.
The propensity to scroll through too much news and stay all stirred up is too.
I get it. No judgment here.
With all this turmoil going on it can feel like self-care is a luxury.
Or even an impossibility.
Yet.
Somewhere deep down inside, each of us knows that taking reasonable care of our one body and mind is essential.
If we don’t do it, no one else will.
So, staying aware of The Frankl Factor - that gap between the stimulus and our response to it - helps us remember that we have a choice.
No. Not easy.
Yes. Definitely doable.*
We humans are so much more capable than we realize.
Let’s help each other remember…
There is a literal choice-moment between:
my first serving and the second
sitting on the couch or going for a walk first
going to bed at 10:30 or continuing to scroll on my phone till midnight
choosing an anxious mindset or a hopeful one
And it’s during that choice-moment we have the power to determine outcomes.
So instead of focusing on the news, or that craving for another cookie, or somebody else’s negative attitude, or the intense pull to stay on the couch…
Let’s give the SPACE BETWEEN our full attention.
In that space we have choice.
In that space we are in our right mind.
In that space we are capable and wise.
In that space we remember the long-view.
And it’s in that space that we can take good care of ourselves.
And just in case taking care yourself isn’t enough motivation for you, there’s this…
When you take care of yourself, you have more capacity to care for others.