The Power of a Pause

You might need to take a pause. Or, perhaps you are already in a pause.

No matter, pauses are good for your soul, body, mind, spirit and the work you are about.

( I am speaking to high-driving folk, if you are always on pause you might want to get going with something, anything! )

A pause, a true pause ( not the, I’m in the dessert because of my unbelief and lack of courage kind of pause ), but a true pause, is essential to your life.

A pause is the garnering of strength either before or after a great work. Oft times both.

A pause can be short or long. Both are required.

Every day needs at least one tiny pause. Every month needs at least a day. Every quarter needs a week. And every year needs a month.

The more work you are doing, the heavier the responsibilities, the greater the pauses.

Stop. Take a breath. Sit still. Listen to the sounds about you. Feel the ground beneath your feet. Lean back into the moment.

Work hard and play hard. Pausing is part of the work. It is part of the play.

A pause can be whatever you want it to be, just keep it simple, or it doesn’t count as a pause.

Now, these kinds of pause, the ones we plan, we like. We feel in charge (and we are – in the best kind of way), responsible, and keenly aware of our natural rhythm and pace.

It is the pause that comes to us unawares that throw us off-kilter. If you are in the midst of one of these, it is you I am speaking to today.

Have you ever tried to push through to something and it just never seemed to come together. And then, another time you barely push and it all comes together?

Well, this is called timing. And in any great work we cannot get away from timing. It is real and it is powerful. Personally I know this as the timing of the Lord. There are things going on in the background that you know nothing about.

The pause you are experiencing just may be the alignment of time and space and work and influence slowing down, converging upon each other, heralding a new thing — and it is best not to rush this.

Another kind of pause is the kind that prepares you. We see this kind of pause in a figure skater before s/he stuns us with that triple whatever-you-call-it. It is a garnering of strength, of reserves, of coming into focus like never before.

You may have been fed the lie that all influence comes from pushing harder and harder and harder. In my experience, this is hardly the case, if ever. Certainly, we reach to new strengths and reserves and tenacity and this does take some pushing, absolutely. But to push harder and harder when you should just ease back a bit, is bull-dogging it in the worst kind of way. Way too much energy for too little return. You just need to pause.

And then there is the pause that comes after the great work. This kind of pause we are not usually prepared for. We expect that after a great work there would be a rush of euphoria and optimism and yet, the opposite is truer.

After a great work you will probably feel even smaller and weaker. A natural but unexpected pause takes hold and we are brought low. It is good but not nice. Rarely easy but absolutely necessary.

A pause at these times gives all that is within you to rest. And rest is important.

So, whether it is the pauses that you plan or the pause that takes you over. Go with it. There will be disillusionment in the pauses. Know this. It will all seem lost. Know this. You won’t see up from down. Know this.

But hang on. Stick it out. Ride it through. Ease over the hump. Wait and then wait a bit more.

Go deep. Do not fear the weakness of the pause. It really is your greatest strength.