ACKNOWLEDGE THE SPACE CAN EXIST!

Acknowledging It's Presence ...

I have always been guilty of quick responses to stressful stimuli and this speed of draw has not served me well. On more than many occasions I have regretted responses I made. Maybe I didn’t have all the data to process. Or maybe I failed to see from every perspective. But when you are quick to speak and slow to listen it is often your ego that takes the hit. When we only see from our short perspective we see like a blind man grasping in the darkness. But our vision can be improved.

Victor Frankl's space that he describes is there for us to use to our advantage. But just like any potential advantage, if we do not see it and utilize it then it is useless. So we must first of all acknowledge that it exists. This begins with belief that it exists and will be of great benefit to find. Just like a treasure hunter that believes a treasure of great worth exists in the next place they look, so we can find this treasure if we are disciplined. The space exists not because it is there waiting to be found. But because WE can create the space.

We create the space by slowing down our mind and not allowing our toxic static thought push us to action sooner than necessary. We want to respond and defend ourselves by being on the offensive. But we end up playing the bully. I often feel like if I respond with power and passion then I am being true to my heart. But, in truth I am only being true to a "heart that is deceitful above all things!"(Jer 17:9) It is my heart that gets me in trouble. My heart does not seek space but seeks retribution. However, if I can create quiet space in my mind, then I find the space Frankl is talking about. It is the space I create by being mindful of the situation. By understanding how valuable it is to examine the stimuli and what could be my response. It is in this action or calming of the mind that the treasured space is created.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvGdZlVfkko