Choice of how we act or react.....

I came across this quote by Viktor Emil Frankl a world-renowned psychiatrist in Stephan R Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families.

Stimulus and Response Theories have been used for decades to explain human behaviour and are also used as means of adjusting human behaviour. The use of positive reinforcement to achieve the desired behaviour patterns and negative reinforcement to eliminate undesirable behaviour has long been used in schools and even workplaces.

But why this quote caught my attention because it challenges these theories and methods.

Unlike with animals the space between stimulus and response is entirely ours to decide how to respond to the stimulus. But it is not easy because we have been conditioned from birth to react to a certain stimulus in a certain manner.

But if we can teach ourselves to stop and think before reacting to any stimulus, we will definitely make a better choice on what our response should be.

To train ourselves to behave in this manner we need to practice using this "Space" between stimulus and response wisely.

As parents and teachers, we need to encourage children to gain awareness regarding this concept. Sadly in our society parents and teachers often do not encourage children to think deeply about their actions. Children are often expected and asked to behave or respond in a certain manner.

This is why it is important to teach ourselves and our children that we sometimes have to unlearn and unschool what we already know in order explore deeply of there are any other choices or options that others have not seen. Because we are conditioned to behave in a certain way from childhood, our reactions are often automatically complying with this conditioning. But within us is the power to stop and think without allowing these conditioned behaviour patterns or responses to take form. Within us is the power to change our perceptions, and form new perceptions. But often we are not aware of this ability and choice we have to go beyond the accepted norm.

We must teach ourselves and our children to look within and learn to understand how we respond to the stimulus we receive. The rote teaching and disciplining in schools and by parents without explaining reasons behind actions can hinder us from gaining the ability to look within and manage our responses.

Our mind is truly an amazing creation and can change many things in the world and it absolutely has the power to change how we respond to stimuli we receive.

#education #lifelonglearning #joyoflearning #choice #unschooling