Choice

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.

Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist, philosopher, author, and Holocaust survivor. 

Today acknowledgment of the magnificent power of choice.

By definition an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) is not a choice. Children do not choose to encounter painful experiences nor harm by those entrusted to protect them. ACE survivors may continue to struggle with the concept of having control or choice because of their early experiences of powerlessness.

Today’s quote comes from Viktor Frankl’s accounting of his time in Nazi concentration camps and observations of fellow victims. It reminds me of the choice inside myself, to pause, breathe, respond rather than react to stress with fear or anger. The power lies within to choose and to live a different experience as a result.

For reflection:

• What choice will you make today to access your inner strength?
• What helps you to pause?

Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl, 1946.