We’ve all been there a time or two. Feeling overwhelmed or stressed, we react to a situation around us without even thinking. Our old coping mechanisms show up, and we wonder what happened.
What we truly wanted was to pause and choose differently, but in the moment that’s not what occurred. Now we’re left with many feelings about how we had hoped things would have happened differently. I’m guessing most everyone can relate.
We are always at choice to choose our old coping mechanisms. And we are always at choice to choose differently. We know what happens when we choose to react the same as we have been for our entire life. What we may not know is what happens when we make another choice.
For many of us, when we experience an uncomfortable situation our old ways of showing up rear their ugly head because it’s familiar to us, almost automatic. It’s how we coped for many years and it got us through, right?
Well, yes it got us through, but I’m guessing that we’re starting to learn different ways of dealing with life’s struggles that will benefit our life versus create more chaos.
Often, old belief systems formed our coping mechanisms early in life. Perhaps we developed a belief that someone or something was out to cause harm. Because of this our defenses were high and our tendency to lash out prevailed. And most of the time this leads us to push away the exact things that we so desire in life.
Maybe it’s time to ask ourselves a few questions:
- What old belief systems am I functioning under?
- How might my life change if I decide to move beyond my old beliefs?
- How might things be different if I choose to pause and respond from a place of love versus reacting from a place of fear?
When you experience a moment of overwhelm, frustration, fear, or anger, challenge yourself to choose differently. Let that moment be one of growth. It is in those moments that you can change your beliefs, form healthier ways to respond to challenges, and be proud of yourself for how you chose to show up in life.
Making these healthy choices gives you freedom: freedom from the past, freedom to be a new version of you.
I want to leave you with one of my favorite quotes from a wise man who not only survived the Holocaust but chose to rise above all the horrific things he experienced to make a difference in the world.
“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
