Pausing as a practice

Do you ever feel like you need to rush?  Of course you do, I'm sure we all do.  I'm sitting at Marlene's market after having a meeting with a college.  My to do list, as usual, has more list than I have time to complete.  I feel the urge to grab all my stuff and rush off to my next list's item.  But if I do will life be better? 

Or can I find it in myself to pause for just a couple of minutes.  Pause and breathe, look around, sip on a hot cup of chamomile tea and maybe even write for a few minutes.

The practice of pausing is not as easy as it should be.  Taking a second, in the middle of your day or task to pause, to breathe and look around.  Is that so difficult??  Apparently it is and so why not make it a practice?

The very definition of practice is to do a task with intent, over and over again actively striving to improve your skills.

So can pausing become a practice?  Everyday, setting the intent of pausing at least once if not a couple of times to breathe.

  Maybe even smile and relax a moment.  Look around and even do something you love doing, like writing in café's while sipping on tea and watching the world rush by.

It doesn't have to be a grand gesture, it just needs to become a habit and what better way to cultivate a good habit than by making it a practice.  And what better habit to cultivate than the habit of pausing.

As always, wishing you a happy home and refreshing pauses

      Denise

Just a note, this whole pause to write, breathe and drink my tea took a half an hour, but I feel surprisingly refreshed!!  Just a thought.