Express freedom through deliberate response
By Jean Ricot Dormeus
I stopped at the entrance of the paying car park and waited for the driver of the vehicle in front of mine to pay her fee to the attendant. When my turn came, the attendant told me that I was free to proceed, because my fee was paid for. I was curious to know who was so generous and thoughtful to extend such a favor to me. I found out it was my tennis partner Selma. She had heard a sermon by Pastor Joel Osteen and endeavored to respond to his call. I was grateful and appreciated the way Selma chose to respond to the message.
Every day we have several opportunities to express freedom by choosing how to respond to questions, messages or situations. Often we make it a duty to give instinctual, knee-jerk feedback. However, we should not allow our lips to burden our backs. Like Selma, we need to be deliberate as we factor in understanding, timing and relevance. As we realize that we are in control of our response, we choose how and when to discuss, say or promise anything.
The website blog.avochato.com published the result of a survey showing how quickly we respond to text messages. On average, it takes people 90 seconds to respond to a text message. SMS response rates are 295% higher than responses from phone calls. These statistics were intended to prove that text messaging is sometimes the best means of communication. Nonetheless, they also prove that we may need to be more deliberate in providing responses.
Viktor Frankl wrote, “Between stimulus and response lies a space. In that space lie our freedom and power to choose a response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.”
Responding offers a practical means to express our freedom. Let’s use it in our best interest.
Jean Ricot Dormeus
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