Pause.

Life – Like a river – keeps flowing. And if you aren’t aware, you can get caught up in the current. And before you know it, may even get swept away.

Life will not stop for you so why do you stop? Don’t Stop! Instead, pause. Take a deep breath, look around, open your eyes, use your senses, do whatever you need to, to reset, but keep treading.

To pause means to temporarily cease an action; to hesitate or delay. Hitting pause is intended to give you a short break, time to think about your next move, a way to catch your breath, reevaluate your current pace or direction, to slow down, speed up, or redirect. There is power in pausing. The problem is, many hit pause and never resume. The pause button becomes the power button that remains in the off position.

Let’s take fitness for example, how many times have you hit pause to give your muscles a break, heal an injury, or because life has become too hectic only to never resume your fitness routine? Or how about a diet? You take a break from counting calories during a summer vacation and find yourself weeks later still eating in vacation mode. Or my frequent offender…can you count the number of times you’ve made an impulse buy only to have shoppers’ remorse soon after?  Imagine how much money you could’ve saved if only you would’ve paused on that “I have to have it” purchase until the decision to buy or not buy was clear.

It’s ok to take the time to reset, but it’s never ok to stop. Hitting the stop button causes you to become a bystander to your own life. But hitting pause puts you in control of your life and allows you to be an active participant. You decide on where you go, what you do, how you spend your time, and the people you surround yourself with. It’s an opportunity to evaluate the impact of your choices.

Yes, pausing is delaying what the future will eventually bring regardless. But by pressing pause, you are giving it time to manifest in the way in you desire rather than forcing it to meet your expectations or trying to stop it from arriving at all. Taking the time to pause, allows you to redirect and resume with new, different, and/or better, more thought-out (and satisfying) results.

Pausing is progress in the right direction. You are steering the direction of your life in the way in which you desire. Know when it’s time to pause and view this time in pause mode as a necessity. Your mind and body will thank you. When you pause, you enjoy the small things, heal your body, and quiet your mind.

One of the best ways to practice a pause is to take a vacation. It can be as extravagant as an trip abroad or as simple as time spent in your own backyard. A vacation regardless of the destination is a temporary escape to rest your mind and body. Everyone needs a vacation. Be it a day, a weekend, a week, or a summer away, an escape from your daily reality is the best way to pause. You are giving yourself time to reset, reevaluate, and reenergize, so you can return to life more focused, ready to tackle all your responsibilities and commitments with newfound energy. Vacations boost your energy level, lower stress, and overall make you a happier person. And who doesn’t want to be happy?

Pause when you need to, but don’t stop!