I got to experience my growth and put it into practice today. I normally have lots of quiet time to read, meditate, and write in the mornings. Not this morning. The household was chaotic with family members getting ready to go out of town. I felt annoyed by all of the activity and I was started to show my feelings outwardly, which never helps in the midst of times like these.

I stepped away from the situation and wrote in my journal: “I feel frustrated around the chaos of the morning and am starting to show the bad sides of me.” Then, I took huge inhalations of breath and exhaled very long and slowly. I repeated this 3 times and changed my energy. I still may not have liked the situation, but I felt detached from it after recognizing and breathing through it. This is an example of what growth likes like to me: response instead of reaction.