The Power of Taking a Moment

By Esther Cohen

Between stimulus and response, there is a moment, often a split second, where we can learn to take a deep breath and master the art of self-control that leads to choice, growth and freedom. Viktor Frankl explains that moment and space as our power to choose our response. Though for some people reflective self-control comes as second nature, for most of us, recognizing and making use of such moments is a learned skill. The very first step is to permit ourselves to take time to understand how the stimulus affects us, allowing a momentary “hmmm…, (breath…)” and another “hmmm…, (breath…)” a few times over if necessary! We can check our emotions and cognitive understanding of what is happening before choosing whether to walk away, embrace it, how best to respond or simply laugh it off!!

Practising choice promotes growth and freedom.