“Between whatever happens to me and my response to it is a space. In that space is my freedom and power to choose my response. And in my response lay my growth and happiness.” – Stephen Covey
Good morning! One of our Good Morning readers Kyrsti, wrote this quote on an index card after reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and she reads it every day. She writes “It has had a big impact on my life. I knew that if I could cultivate the habit of being patient within this ‘space’ after an event or words spoken to me, I would be able to get to a response that would promote less stress and more happiness.”
This concept is one that we need to live on a daily basis. While we can’t control everything going on around us (nor is it worth our energy to try!) we can control how we react in that “space.” And how we react will directly impact our day, our week, our month–our life.
When we choose anger, gossip, negativity, or getting defensive – we build walls in our lives that keep out the “bad”–but those same walls also keep out the good and the wonder of life.
Your Turn: Today, notice the “space” where you have the choice to respond. Think about how your choice will influence your life. Respond in a way that promotes understanding and caring and personal peace. You’ll feel much better about the situation at hand –and your life will reflect it.
Today’s Affirmation: I choose to respond to external events in a caring, understanding and peaceful way.
Thanks I needed this. It hit home especially today. Sunday is the most trying day of the week in respect to my patience. Ironic but true. The day I go to church to fill my soul and fuel up on the good things to carry me through the week, is the day I feel the most stressed to get myself and my family to church, dressed pressed and on time. And it seems my boys don’t feel the same urgency of that goal. So the mornings rush often leads to feelings of frustration and sometimes escalated tempers and the opposite of what we are trying to accomplish. So I too will write these words to read each day and whenever I need them most. Thanks for the timely reminder!