Stop The Train

While standing on the subway platform, I noticed a woman staggering and stumbling along. She had a large scar on her shaven head and appeared disoriented. It seemed she had recently undergone brain surgery and shouldn't have been walking around on her own. Though I couldn't have predicted what happened next, my instinct to act was immediate when she fell onto the train tracks.

To someone watching from afar, I appeared to be running away—but instead of jumping onto the tracks to help her, I was rushing to reach the emergency phone. I called 911 and said, "Stop the train going north on the A-line. Someone fell on the tracks. I'm at West 4th." The dispatcher said, "Hold on," within moments, I heard the oncoming train slow down. Thankfully, it stopped just before entering the station, as two men had jumped onto the tracks to help her out.

Had the train not stopped, all three might have died—they were still on the tracks when the train slowly appeared.

In moments of crisis, it's essential to act fast, however, with a clear, calm, and focused mind.

I knew the goal was to save the woman, but the difference between success and potential disaster was how we each chose to take action.

Under stress, we often react in confusion and chaos rather than respond with clarity and confidence.

SOLVE THE RIGHT PROBLEM

In a stressful situation like that subway incident, the obvious reaction is to jump on the tracks to rescue her immediately. However, her being on the tracks wasn't the "real" problem—the oncoming train was. This illustrates a crucial lesson about how we approach challenges.

We often get stuck in cycles of reactive behavior, trying to fix symptoms rather than addressing root causes. Just like jumping onto the tracks would have created more victims without solving the real problem, our stress responses can blind us to more effective solutions.

STOP YOUR MIND FROM SPINNING

When caught in stress cycles, we often focus our energy on managing symptoms—like trying to keep up with an ever-increasing pace—rather than addressing what's driving our challenges. This reactive pattern keeps us stuck, like running faster on a hamster wheel instead of choosing a different path entirely.

Here are three ways to break free from reactive patterns:

• Practice Power-Pausing: Before reacting to a situation, take a breath with a long exhale (to calm down the reactive nervous system) and ask, "What's the real problem here?"

• Question your patterns: Notice when you're stuck in a reactive mode of “putting out fires” and ask yourself, "Is this solving the root cause?"

• Choose your response: Like choosing between jumping on the tracks or stopping the train, consciously decide your next move instead of letting fear drive your actions.

Too often we get caught up fixing what's urgent, instead of solving the problems that help us focus on what truly matters.

TRANSFORM REACTION INTO RESPONSE

When we learn to pause and assess before acting, we transform our relationship with stress and uncertainty. This isn't just about managing crises—it's about fundamentally changing how we approach challenges in our daily lives.

Just as stopping the train was more effective than jumping onto the tracks, choosing a thoughtful response over an immediate reaction can be the difference between perpetuating cycles of stress and creating meaningful change. This requires courage —the courage to pause when everything in us wants to rush forward, the courage to question our instinctive reactions, and the courage to choose a different path.

The power to transform our response to stress lies not in doing more or moving faster but in our ability to stop, assess, and consciously choose our next step. When we do this, we don't just solve problems—we create new possibilities for growth and positive change.

Remember: In any challenging situation, your greatest power lies not in your immediate reaction but in your chosen response. This is how we move from surviving our circumstances to actively shaping them.