Remember to Pause
Santa Cruz at night. Capitola Beach.
Written December 22, 2014
December catches me off guard every year, as though I don’t know it’s coming. As though I have never shopped for presents before, or haven’t had a busy calendar in the last month of any other year.
I confess to just wanting it to be over sometimes. The hassle and hustle of the season triggers my guilt, too. Why do I rarely succeed in getting lights up on the house? How could I let my college kids come home for winter break to an empty home (I was away traveling to see extended family members who are sick)? I even found myself wondering how necessary a decorated tree is to our over-all well-being.
Some years I’ve had every gift purchased and shipped by the start of December. Other years, I’m paying the extra fees for one day shipping. And still others, I’ve had to box and wrap a receipt, letting the teen know the gift would arrive within a day or two of Christmas.
So it was with great curiosity and interest that I listened to a friend share with me a strategy for being in the present moment—something I need to remember to do for myself. Maybe it will be helpful to you too.
She told me that when she finds herself whipped up into a frenetic energy, or guilt, or anxiety—she deliberately pauses, for a moment. She checks in with her thoughts, her feelings, and her body—to see what’s really there, so that she’s not just operating from a script of past holiday seasons or past expectations.
The pause.
I had forgotten about the pause! It helps to re-center myself and ask the basic questions:
- Where is my mind (what am I thinking about, or obsessing over)?
- How do I feel (am I churned up? am I excited? am I distracted and edgy)?
- What’s going on in my body (clenched jaw—I grind my teeth so a clenched jaw does tell me a lot about how much I’m holding inside; upset stomach, headache, short breath)?
Once I’ve paused to see what’s going on with me, I can then accept it and honor it. I don’t have to sweep it away or pretend it’s not there or overcome it. I can allow myself to embrace that moment, and the next, and the next one too.
From this place of checking in with myself, I can then make choices that take me and how I’m doing into account. Usually when I blow or lose it, it’s because I am checked out—I’m attempting to fill expectations or am moving really fast or have decided that this moment is annoying and I just want to get past it. When I’m in that mindset, I lose the moment and my choices.
Maybe today we can all pause—simply stop long enough to be present to ourselves and to our families; to let this year be its own unique holiday season, not a remix of all holidays past.
I paused this morning. I noticed a lot of agitation and urgency inside. A dismissiveness toward the demands of the season. A resentment brewing.
Time for a run, a cup of tea, and a hot shower. Then I’ll rouse Noah out of his well earned slumber, and we’ll go get that tree I keep putting off. I want to enjoy it with him, not rush through it (or even skip it!). That’s what I discovered when I paused this morning.
Love this.
Pausing right now! 🙂
Although I hate it when my children are sick, last year my then 3 year old was sick on Christmas day. All I did all day was snuggle with a feverish little boy. It was a blessed time because I was forced to pause and do only what really mattered.
Thank you for always sharing your struggles and how you overcome (or are in the process of overcoming) them. I love how you said this: “I don’t have to sweep it away or pretend it’s not there or overcome it.” Pretending everything is okay when it’s never a good idea. It’s good to recognize that. It is what it is. I think we women tend to try to pretend we are in a Norman Rockwell painting!
Blessings to you and yours.
Nanci