Space between the spaces

All I found, space between the spaces
Standing in the nothing, and time reclaims you
- Foo Fighters, "Outside"

Okay, so I doubt Dave Grohl was talking about being mindful and having awareness of breath when he was writing the lyrics to "Outside," but that was what I immediately went to after reading about spaces in mindfulness meditation. Really fascinating stuff, for anyone who has been in athletics, or enjoys having total awareness of their surroundings.

There are key spaces in life, these instantaneous moments in which we have a set of possible outcomes. The space between stimulus and response - response being the key word, because if you're not aware of the space, it becomes a reaction. There's an important difference between reacting and responding - the latter makes aware that space and is a thought-out, executed decision, instead of a knee-jerk reaction to a stimulus.

Another cool one is the space between inhaling and exhaling. For me, it's almost like a second inhale or second exhale, as though your true breath is catching up to the involuntary breathing. Again, another fraction of a second.

Think about these spaces - be aware of them, pay attention to them, live into them.