MIND: Choose the Pause

DAILY INSIGHT The philosopher (and Roman emperor) Marcus Aurelius famously said, “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” It’s a simple truth that we cannot control what happens around us, and unexpected events will always occur. But we can train our minds to respond with consciousness awareness. DAILY ACTION Choose your reaction to something today. When something happens that you’d normally react to without pause — maybe you get cut up by another driver on the road; you drop something and it smashes; or someone says something that triggers an emotional response — DO pause. Take a breath and decide how you want to respond to the situation. Is the way you want to respond different from the way you usually respond?