27/03/2023
I love this,I must always remind myself to respond rather than react 💗
An idea presented by Daniel Kahneman suggests that we have two systems in our minds. System 1 is our fast, automatic, irrational and unconscious mind. It can help us make quick decisions with minimal information, which often leads to errors in judgment. System 2 is our slow, deliberate, rational and conscious mind. It allows us to think things through carefully and analyze what’s before us.
Our brains are primarily pattern-seeking machines. Therefore, most of our lives are driven by System 1 – optimized to make life effortless and make decisions based on our emotional history. But, if you’ve had a previous experience where you felt scared, and those emotions come to the surface even though you’re not in a threatening position, System 1 will tell you to react in the same way. If we react to the emotions without conscious awareness, we give the pattern continuity. As a result, we continue to function in the present using the past.
This might prove unhelpful. We don’t always need to handle situations in the same way. Without applying System 2 thinking, we can make predictable errors in judgement and remain stuck in the past, which might contain deep patterns of unresolved pain that manifest as our reality.
Simply implementing a pause between you and your emotions allows you to face them and choose how you respond to them in the present. We gift ourselves a moment to analyze situations and select the most empowering approach. Instead of reacting to pain from the past, we can choose to respond to the present with heightened self-awareness to build a lighter future.
As we compound new responses, we lean into a new trajectory. We create new patterns that shape new outcomes. It’s the same as the Japanese concept of Kaizen, which suggests that slow, steady, incremental changes lead to big results. The day you change the way you respond to events and people, that’s the day your life changes. In each moment, that’s where our power is – choosing to respond to the circumstances.