There lies a space.
“Between stimulus and response, there lies a space.”
This quote is from Viktor Frankl, the Austrian neurologist, Auschwitz survivor, and author of the psychological memoir Man’s search for Meaning. Frankl believed that finding meaning is our primary purpose in life and typically comes from three sources in particular - purposeful work, love, and/or courage in the face of adversity. You will not regret reading his work.
The quote above is one of my favorites and I think is powerful in its simplicity. A quick breakdown - the stimulus is the thing that happens to you in any given moment - critical feedback from your boss, getting cut off in traffic, etc. What Frankl highlights in this quote is that before your reaction to this stimulus, there is a moment where you have the time/opportunity to decide how you are going to respond to this stimulus and what your attitude will be moving forward. Frankl believed that how we choose to make use of this “space” shapes our life - in particular our freedom and our growth.
In application, individuals can work to improve:
The length of that space
The usefulness of that space
The “how” to improve these two things becomes trickier. I think any practice that quells anxiety and internal “chatter” is a good place to start - breathwork, meditation, prayer, focused single-tasking, etc. I also think intentionality regarding this goal when a person is starting their day is huge - for example a quick morning check-in with yourself where you could say something like…
“I am going to slow my response and I am going to choose my response to the things that happen to me today”.
Like developing any worthwhile habit or skill, continued practice and forgiveness of yourself will be paramount.
The full quote:
“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.”