The secret to life, to happiness, and to a relationship is one thing: taking a minute before you respond.
The stoics say “we don’t control what happens, but we control how we respond”.
Between the stimulus and the response, there’s a moment. And at this moment, this is when we choose who we are, what we’re going to be, and what’s important to us.
You don’t have to respond right away. You can wait, put a second of pause in there. Just wait for a beat.
You can be angry, be provoked, be frustrated, or even be scared, but you don’t have to take any action based on that emotion. You have the ability to choose what you do in response.
If you take a beat and take a minute, you probably going to respond better.
This article is part of the 30 Day Writing Challenge. I’ll challenge myself to write whatever comes to mind.