What is the difference between reacting and responding? One breath.
When we react, we act on instinct. We use all our experience to judge the new situation in front of us without taking into account what is actually happening.
When we react, we let out everything we carry inside, and that is not necessarily all good. Usually, we react to a situation we consider a threat—often when it is not—simply out of reflex. We magnify the possible consequences of this seemingly threatening situation, forget that we are thinking beings, and react.
When we sense that a situation threatens our ideas, values, or beliefs, let us breathe before reacting. A single breath puts distance between us and the harm we are about to do, both to others and to ourselves.
In that second when we breathe, our thoughts become clearer, our heart rate slows, empathy emerges, and compassion takes over.
After taking that breath, we realize that the situation was not as threatening as we feared, is not as terrible as we thought, and that we can get through it without anyone getting hurt.
One second, one breath, will spare us the bitter taste left in our mouths after reacting to a situation that called for our response, our best solution, rather than our reaction.
“Breathing is the bridge that connects life to consciousness, that unites your body with your thoughts.”
Thich Nhat Hanh