Infinite Potential
How do you feel about empty spaces?
Do they need to be filled?
Every empty space is already full. Can you see it? Sometimes you have to squint. Perhaps use a different angle or a different lens. Maybe you have to walk away and come back later. But it’s there, in every empty space.
Infinite potential.
It’s been said that “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.” This space — this infinite and boundless opportunity — between what we experience and how we react is the most important space that exists for all of us. What we do with it determines everything about our lives.
So what do we do with it? How can we use it?
Just like every other animal, our behaviors and thoughts are driven by things which are behind our immediate attention. Our instinctive drives to stay alive and replicate inform virtually everything we do, and these drives don’t value the empty space. It gets in the way. It’s a chasm between our stimulated instincts and whatever it is that we’re being unconsciously driven to attain. Instead of seeing that space as an opportunity to make a choice that can benefit us in the long run, we’re unconsciously motivated to span it quickly and get to the other side.
Bridging the gap too quickly inspires knee-jerk reactions. Thoughtless. Defensive. Aggressive. Harmful. Short-sighted. Not only that, but attempting to choose what bridge to use (or even if it should be built at all) without first considering the space for a little while can cause the bridge to crumble, resulting in a choice that’s never truly made, an infinity spent wallowing in the empty space when we could have safely contemplated the crossing from the precipice.
When you want to do something well, you practice. Cultivating your ability to interact with the space between stimulus and response is no different.
This is what mindfulness is all about. Through a daily meditation practice you can become less reactive and make more thoughtful decisions. It’s not always easy to make choices that we don’t regret later, but in order to do it less often we have to train our focus somehow — and meditation works.
