“There comes a pause, for human strength will not endure to dance without cessation; and everyone must reach the point at length of absolute prostration.”
Lewis Carol
That PAUSE button. Two simple lines that often sits between Rewind and Forward. Almost as if one line weren’t enough to say stand still, take a break, rest is needed before playing your movie forward.
There is a mystery about the now. I’m talking about this very minute.
Let’s take the human body, for example. In one minute, you will blink 15-20 times, your heart will pump 1.3 gallons of blood and you will shed about 30-50 thousand skin cells (EWW). You can read more about it here.
It’s not often I turn to facts, I usually talk in feelings. But sometimes, facts can add clarity to our feelings. When the minutes are running a marathon in your life, and you are part of a society that lives on coffee and outlook, and if like me, you need a holiday after your holiday, it is so easy to completely miss the mystery.
I use the body as an example because so often I take my body for granted. I wake up, complete a whole day of tasks, and by night fall, most often talk badly to my body for not looking skinnier in those jeans before I conveniently forget to wash my face. I never pause to think of all that my body does for me, the strength in my legs and the neurons firing in my brain and you know, the little heart of mine beating away, keeping me alive.
And if I don’t pause for my body, what else do I not pause for? What other beautiful, mysterious and incredible things are happening within me and around me am I completely missing because I don’t take a moment to stop and appreciate?
We are entering into the Easter season, and as tempting as it may be to eat your weight in chocolate, get on a sugar high and keep running through this April like a cross between the easter bunny and the energizer bunny, I invite you into something new. Join me in a daily practice of pause. Here’s my schedule for the week.
Monday: Make a list of 5 things I am thankful for
Tuesday: Cook something from scratch
Wednesday: Watch the sunset
Thursday: Give away something I haven’t used in a while, make space.
Friday: Read a psalm out loud
Saturday: Dance on my own for 5 minutes for no reason
Sunday: Take twice as long as normal to eat one meal in the day
Pausing may not always mean meditating or being silent although those are wonderful practices. For some, like me, it is an act of peace, an undertaking of self care, a moment of fun in and amongst the mundane, a reminder of freedom and an intentional time of taking stock. As my Yogi friend Adriene says “find what feels good” , take a moment to engage in that, and then keep on keeping on changing the world.
Taking a break is not simply good for you, it is almost as beneficial and sometimes more (just ask my husband) for the people around you.
And the best part of a pause, a break or a breath? Learning often takes place between efforts of trying something new, not in the midst of attempting it. Growth happens in the in between moments of rest, revelation creates itself in the mystery of one simple moment of Selah. The cycle not just continues, but is mightier in the presence of mystery. We work – we pause-we learn-we grow-we work BETTER.
When you stand in the pause, you get the greatest view of the future. And it is bright.
Tell me, what are some of your favourite ways to break up the mundane in your life? In what ways do you find the mystery?
Love,
Ria