The Power Of A Pause.

Taking time to think.

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It is natural for us to respond right away to a question or situation. Someone asks, how are you? Without missing a beat, we respond with “I’m good/ fine.” We do that to “save” time or cut a conversation short. But if we were to pause and think, how are we doing? Then we would be more in touch with our emotions and have greater control over our reactions.

A pause before reacting to a situation or before answering a question doesn’t mean that we are timid or slow. It takes a high level of discipline and control to pause, think, and then speak. Don’t see the point? Test it for yourself. Ask someone a question and watch their response time. Then tell them to pause and think about their response before answering again. In almost every case, you’ll be able to identify a difference in the quality of the answer.

You know the saying “action has consequences.”

Life is always testing us with difficult situations. The urge to blow up is always piercing out of our skin. The next time we are faced with that test, stop and think. If actions come with consequences, shouldn’t we pause to check the quality of our decisions? I know many are in the ground and behind bars, who would also encourage us to pause before reacting.

There is so much power in pausing. Let us be more conscious of what we say and do. Think about the long-term effects of the choices we make or do not make now.

Thank you for reading, and a huge shoutout to Dr. Nicole for inspiring this post. Check out her thread to see other habits that can improve your emotional health.