Friday, February 25, 2011

How To Learn

I need to think about quick responses.  Rather, I need to work on recognizing emotional turns of face, the kind of pangs and discordant ugly-face reactions that billow up and out across my cheeks when I hear something I don't like.  The first step to learning is to isolate out those responses, to freeze them in place for a moment.  To suspend thought and just sit inside of a bubble for a few moments.  If I can remain self-aware, if only to slow down the vestiges of zealous disagreement, perhaps I can be open to learning something new and expanding the world around me. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great insight. Taking a pause and living in that gap for a moment, before reacting. From Cheri Huber,"Life is as it is, we get to choose our response". There is great freedom in realizing I have that choice. I can do something completely different. Sometimes taking three slow deep breaths helps, before I say or do anything. It's hard for me as an addict not to take everything personally; the truth is I would be better off to take nothing personally.

hmm said...

Thanks, and that's a great point about potentially taking nothing personally. I like that configuration a lot.