THE PAUSE THE REFRESHES
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Pivotal moments, both positive and negative ones, show up – but rarely on time, rarely as predicted. Yesterday was a day of considerable stress, anticipation/angst.
In some respects, like any other day, but not.
I find great value in pausing – capturing those feelings, ideas, brain farts, and inspirations and writing them down in that moment, so I don’t lose them or forget the thread that connects them – paying considerable dividends, a strange mix of gratitude, and anticipation that things would unfold, and they did.
That’s the good news.
But when some things overwhelm me more than they should, more than I should allow them, I get tense in the way most people do; in these situations, taking a breath, putting everything on numb for a few minutes to regain my bearings has proven valuable beyond measure. If someone calls, writes or knocks on my door – I usually don’t drop my focus, but instead like to react with, “Can I get back to you when I’m finished what I’m the middle of in 10 minutes?” … and usually, the answer is, “Sure, no problem, whenever your available.”
Try practicing that, and once you do, add 5-10 minutes to your response time. That way, you have time to finish what you are working on, and you give yourself some breathing room to prepare, to think about how the call/meeting can go in ways that will work for you, benefit a relationship, build on or improve the project, or the piece or work that call or meeting involved. A pause, not live down-shifting or coasting, but a genuine stop at the side of the road …