After taking a sip of coffee while taking a break, he surfed the phone. Stories about current affairs, social policy, and human psychology, he glanced through without thinking. Conversely, he stayed longer with scandals, drama events... and as a habit that had formed for a long time, very quickly, he wrote in the comment section.
Of course, mainly criticism, criticism, evaluation, judgment. Then put down your phone, return to your work with a feeling of relief, as if just contributing to the wave of "attacking ugly, negative images". Not only you, whether speaking or writing, many others often have such a fast reaction rate.
In a conversation with a friend, he shared about "the hobby of commenting on the street" as a way to bring joy. And thought he was in sync. But the friend just laughed after listening. No judgment, no evaluation, no comment. He returned to his phone.
After a while of not saying anything, the story returned when he asked his friend about another incident. The friend did not answer the question directly but asked another question: "How do you feel about the time we were silent?". He didn't understand much, but also replied: "It's okay".
Of course, it's okay with him, because his operating circuit is continuous strokes, comments, and then strokes again. "For me, it's a space to breathe, to think," my friend said. "Don't think I don't care, but I react to things like that in a different way. Breathe deeper to look deeper. If it's worth discussing, then think more, if it's not worth, then let it go to relieve the burden.
Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl once said: "There is a gap between stimulation and reaction. In that gap is our right to choose our reaction". Therefore, quick reaction easily leads to hastily pronounced moral judgments. Stopping, taking a deep breath before reaction is the most necessary filter. That gap is when control is transferred from momentary emotions to reason.
A few days later, the case he once commented on concluded contrary to the initial phenomenon. There was a slight change in him. Suddenly looking down at the computer keyboard, Spacebar is indeed the longest key, used most often.
