Bah, it's not like many people read this blog anyways...(but those that do matter)

I have been going through an old book, the familiar "The 7 habits of highly effective people". There was one saying in there that stuck: "You have the freedom to choose how you will respond".

The author has a point. He told the story of a Jewish psychiatrist in a Nazi death camp. In the worst of all possible scenarios and environments, he was able to focus on how although he did not have the liberty, being constrained in his physical surroundings, he did have the freedom to choose how he could respond to the external stimuli: the horrible conditions of a death camp.

We are routinely exposed to stimuli, some good and some bad. In many situations we have been programed to respond in a particular way. That can be helpful since some scenarios work out well enough. But it is important to remember that in the space between stimuli and response, we have the freedom to choose. Easy enough to say, but difficult to pull off, and I've begun to try it out. It helped me with my morning jog today and I hope it can help me for the rest of the week (and of course, hopefully beyond). After all, though I don't feel great right now, I does not compare to a Nazi death camp.

Rather than give in to the Pavlovian response, I will see how I can exercise that freedom, or how long I last.

Peace.