This 1 Lesson Teaches You Why You Need to Reevaluate How You Respond to Daily Stimuli
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response” — Victor Frankl
We are responding to stimuli daily and our responses — good or bad; appropriate or inappropriate — have to a large extent determined the course of our lives.
How we respond to any event determines the outcome of that event.
Imagine for a second that you are bit by a snake while walking along a bushy path, and in a fit of rage, you decide to chase down the snake to kill it, instead of quickly addressing the bite and stopping the venom from spreading. You can already tell the possible outcome.
The point is, your response to any event affects the quality of the next moment.
How we respond to circumstances— positive or negative; desirable or undesirable — will ultimately determine what we come away with from that transaction.
A greater part of our experiences in life is largely tied to our responses, how we react to all that happens around us every day.
So much happens in and around us, but very few of us are conscious and intentional about how we respond to these happenings.
“Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you respond to it.”- Anonymous
The difference however, between extraordinary people and average people is in their ability and conscious decision to respond to happenings and events in their lives, in a way and manner that is consistent with their core values and beliefs.
You have to intentionally choose how you respond to daily stimulus regardless of how desirable or undesirable they may be.
Choose responses that are consistent with your core values, ideologies, and belief systems. Take responsibility for your responses.
Remember, how you respond would affect the next moment. You have the power to choose how you respond, use it!
In Conclusion
“After Jesus left there, he went to the region of Tyre. When he went into a house, he did not want anyone to know, but he was not able to escape notice. Instead, a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him and came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, of Syrophoenician origin. She asked him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and to throw it to the dogs.” She answered, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” — Mark 7:24–28 (NIV)
The Syrophoenician woman in this Bible story had the right to respond however she pleased.
If she wasn’t pleased with Jesus’ response, she could have told him right away. Perhaps she he had justifiable reasons — “Why would he allude me to dogs?” — but she chose her response carefully and intentionally — “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
Her response affected the outcome of the next moment.
“Then he said to her, “Because you said this, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” She went home and found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.” — Mark 7:29–30 (NIV)
Take responsibility for your responses.
Choose how you respond, who you respond to, what you respond to, when you respond and where you respond.
“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.” — Victor Frankl
