RESPOND. I slammed my hands on the table and screamed 'I cant keep having the same fight with you EVERY DAY!' and then stormed out the back door. My ten year old was left crying at the dining room table. Not my shining moment as a mom needless to say.
The difference between the way we react and the way we RESPOND is the pause. That brief second we take to take a breath or step back and realize that the scary unknown I was living in....he was living in as well. I see my reactions in the way he reacts many days. It makes me uncomfortable. It makes me almost queasy to watch him lash out just like I did.
So. I am trying to breathe into that discomfort just like I would do in a twist. I am trying to RESPOND to everything happening not by storming out the back door.. I have paused and stepped back and recognized that my discomfort is one breath away from a deeper stretch into inclusvitiy and a more useful response.
RESPOND. It is one pause, one breath, one uncomfortable situation away. Will I never yell again, um, heck no...I run a little hot some days but if I can respond rather than react....maybe my kids will do the same.
#mantrasonmonda
