Learning To Pause

Learning to pause is the antidote to many things in one’s life that usually end in a place where we do not want to be. So often our auto-responses react to a situation in a way that creates emotional turmoil for ourselves and for others, not to mention real life consequences. Sometimes we wish we could have a “do over” but that do over just doesn’t come so we are left with regret or remorse and the inability to change things. This whole pattern could be shifted with just one small act—to pause before we speak, react and take any action. A pause is like a window in time opening, where we can move out of old patterns and automatic responses just by stopping and doing nothing. This pause gives us the space to, perhaps, make a different choice than the one we have always made. It gives us the time and space to play out the consequences of our actions. When we pause, we stop to contemplate what it is we really mean, what it is that is really important to us and how to best convey this. Even in the heat of anger, a pause can give us a momentary reprieve from whatever emotion is running us and allow us to open up to a more aligned choice for ourselves. Pause before you speak and act, this moment of reflection will save you a lifetime of heartaches.