This week on WORDS MATTER, Deanna Ley, The Catalytic Coach, continues the ROOTED series with a quote that sounds simple but carries real weight when life gets hard:

“I always have a choice.”

Paired with Viktor Frankl’s insight about the space between stimulus and response, this episode explores what choice truly means when circumstances are painful, unexpected, or outside your control.

This conversation is not about pretending pain didn’t happen or forcing a positive spin. It is about recognizing the space between what happens and how you respond, and understanding the responsibility and power that live there.

Through personal story, real-life examples, and Whole-Self Health teaching, Deanna shows how that space can become a place of healing, steadiness, and self-trust rather than reaction and retreat.

What Listeners Will Learn
• Why having a choice does not mean you caused what happened
• How to recognize the space between stimulus and response in everyday moments
• What ownership looks like when it is rooted in responsibility rather than blame
• How to use your PEACE GAUGE when emotions feel loud or overwhelming
• Why a single reactive moment does not undo the growth you have already built

Memorable Quotes
• “I always have a choice.”
 • “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” ― Viktor E. Frankl
 • “You don’t always have a choice about what happens to you. The choice is about what you do now that it has.”
 • “I am 100% responsible for my health and my healing.”
 • “Blame keeps you stuck. Ownership sets you free.”
 • “Ownership without self-compassion isn’t freedom. It’s just punishment wearing a different mask.”
 • “One hard day doesn’t get to erase the growth that you’ve already done.”

This episode offers a grounded reminder that even when life feels out of control, your response still belongs to you, and so does the path forward.

Your WORDS MATTER, because YOU MATTER.

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