The Space Between

My brother commented on my last entry, and I thought I would share what he said because I loved it.

The famous Austrian psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl said: "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."

I shared this quote with the Priest Quorum today. No matter how small that space is, we can choose how we react to it. We can choose to be bitter, to complain, to overreact, to get revenge, to escape, to fight, to forgive, to ignore, to be kind, to improve the situation, to fix the problem, to pass the blame... anything! Its our choice! And we can choose what that choice is. We should be in control. Once we give in to the stimulus, we allow it to control us.

Go back and read the Frankl quote above. Now, imagine this coming from someone who survived several holocaust concentration camps... including Aushwitz! He saw and experienced horrible things, however he found that you can endure anything if you have the right mindset. In their case, the right frame of mind could be the difference between survival and death.He said, "If a prisoner felt that he could no longer endure the realities of camp life, he found a way out in his mental life– an invaluable opportunity to dwell in the spiritual domain, the one that the SS were unable to destroy. Spiritual life strengthened the prisoner, helped him adapt, and thereby improved his chances of survival." 

Now that is using your ability to choose!! Remember the space that exists between stimulus and response... that is where greatness lies!

New Year's Resolutions

I don't like New Year's resolutions. I really don't. I think that if you're going to start something new, you should just do it! Why wait until the New Year, right?

And, yet, every year, I set some New Year's resolutions that I know I'm not going to keep. This year, however, I resolved to NOT resolve anything. Ha! But that didn't work, either, because instead I thought about things I'd like to change about myself.

I finally came up with one that I'm going to try my hardest to stick to. I am going to try to say only positive things about my family. And not just my husband and kids, but all of my extended family. It's easy to say negative things about anybody, and I tend to do that--especially when I'm with other women. For some reason, husband bashing happens a lot when married women get together. Or kid bashing, for that matter. I am very guilty of it, and I'm very aware of it when I do it.

SO my resolve is to say only positive things, and for every negative thing I say, I must say two positive things to make up for it.

After I told my husband that, he said the thing about saying two positives for every negative was in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I guess I'm just as smart as Mr. Covey. :)

I figure that if I start with my family, then I'll eventually branch out to people outside my family, as well, and develop a more Christ-like attitude towards all people. Because, I mean, that's my main goal, after all--to be more like Christ.

What resolutions are you going to make this year? I'd love to hear them! We could all work together to make sure we actually keep them this year.

P.S. Due to stomach virus, there won't be a lesson summary this week. Sorry, guys. :(