PROFFESIONAL DEVELOPMENT THE POWER OF THE PAUSE

THE POWER OF THE PAUSE

by Katherine Loranger

We all know what we “should” do, and even what we’d prefer to do, so then how is it that we have such a hard time doing those things and showing up for ourselves in the way we really want? The information is out there, and chances are we’ve done a course, read a book, listened to a podcast or watched a Youtube video that tells us exactly what to do. We get inspired, motivated and excited. We vow to just be better, to implement the “insert the whatever skill we wish we had” to do better. We tell ourselves that this is the time that it really sticks.

Maybe we get a little bit of traction but then pretty soon we find ourselves reacting in the same old way. Once again, we’re beating ourselves up for how we yelled at our kids, snapped at our partner, eye-rolled at our coworker or how that bag of chips mysteriously ended up in our stomach. Those old habits of procrastination, taking on too much, putting our own needs last start to run our lives yet again.

We feel defeated and demoralized. In those moments it can feel like we have no control, no choice as we find ourselves reacting in the same old way. So, what’s a girl to do?

I’d like to invite you to consider this story by Portia Nelson

“I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost... I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.

I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in the same place. But, it isn’t my fault. It still takes me a long time to get out.

I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in. It’s a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.

I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

As we find ourselves reacting in the same old way… The key here is that we’re finding ourselves reacting in the same old way. This is the good news! This means that we’ve got the awareness that this is a habit, a pattern, a reaction. This is where the power of the pause comes in. As we are finding ourselves reacting in the same old way, we can insert a pause and in that pause we have access to different choices, different options, different ways of responding. The power of the pause helps us to shift from the kneejerk reactions that we all have towards a more intentional and informed way of responding to what’s going on in our lives.

In that pause we can then choose to implement all of the things we already know how to do. In that pause we can powerfully connect to the version of ourselves that we want to bring to the world. In that pause we get to decide.

Katherine specializes in helping heartcentered entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, business owners and dreamers build their dreams, accelerate their results and create richer, more fulfilling lives. She holds an M.Ed in Counselling, and is an NLP practitioner, and is certified as a life mastery consultant.