Between stimulus and response there is a space. And in that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
—Stephen Covey, summarizing from an unnamed source
Choose Your Response
Wednesday. The middle of the week. This was always the day during my childhood family vacations when I felt things change. Saturday through Tuesday, I would feel energized and full of life, building sandcastles with my sisters on our daily visits to the beach. We were making plans and putting them into action.
Then poof! Wednesday would show up, and it was as if a cloud drifted over me for the remainder of our vacation week. Building a sandcastle from the wet sand by the shore just didn’t have the same feel as earlier in the week. You see, the end of our vacation was in sight. What was the sense in having fun when our vacation was ending soon? I recall sitting next to my mother in our beach chairs, sharing how down I was feeling at the continuous thought of our vacation coming to an end. Her response to me always sounded something like this: Live in the moment and be your best self in the moments we still have!
Stephen Covey wrote that he was captivated by the idea that “Between stimulus and response there is a space. And in that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Our lives are filled with starts and stops, pauses and breaks. When we know change is ahead, we may think, Why put in all the effort now if things are just going to change? Whether it be a new initiative or the upcoming transition to a new curriculum, we have the power to choose how we respond. We owe it to ourselves to continue giving each day everything we’ve got despite the impending change or the future unknown.
We can choose to phone it in and listlessly go through the motions. Or we can choose to dial it in and give it our best performance and effort. Let’s use our power for the latter and respond with confidence, competence, and clarity in each moment we still have in sight.
Wednesdays. The middle of the week. This is the day during my family vacations as an adult when I watch my children splashing in the pool, smile, and think, We still have three more days of vacation together!
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/october-17-2025-playful-learning/
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