Viktor Frankl once said, “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.” 

When you feel a strong emotion like anger, sadness or annoyance in response to something that has happened, don’t rush to react. Give yourself the gift of time and patience to process the feelings, and then respond thoughtfully. 

All of your experiences get processed through the emotional part of your brain–the limbic system–first, before they can reach the logical brain which is the prefrontal cortex. That’s why you need to take time to emotionally process the experience before you can logically understand it.

Let yourself feel all the feelings FIRST. You are human after all!  Your initial reaction may not be the best one, so take a moment to let your emotions settle.

This will give you a much better outcome than blowing up right away. I’ve learned this through personal experience!

“I will give myself time to feel my emotions first before responding to something that upset me.”