12 responses to “shine day 16: Spark Your Self-Acceptance with a Pause”

  1. Kip DeForest

    Beautifully said!

  2. Lee McCracken

    Pause, sit back, inhale, exhale. Yes, ma’am … get your pause on! Love this and will share it all over. It’s been said “We weren’t created to be human doings, but human beings.” BE. BREATHE.

    1. LadyEm

      Lee, what a brilliantly suitable quote! 🙂

  3. LadyEm

    1. Where did you pause today? What difference did it make?

    I love this idea. Pausing grants us a moment’s grace for clarity. That valuable moment to consider what we really want, how we really feel, why we are reacting that way.#

    Yesterday I was walking into town and noticed a girl and was struck by how pretty she was. Her hair was elegantly swept back from her face, her make up was flawless and simple and she had a petite and femininely dressed frame. My instant thought was, how disheveled I must look in comparison with my curly hair, Capri pants and pumps. But I stopped and realized what I was thinking. Yes, she was a pretty girl, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not! I have lovely blonde curly hair (and, thankfully, was having a non-friz good hair day!), a slim, feminine frame,wearing a favourite outfit and with a content smile on my face.

    My moment’s pause allowed me to loudly hear the negative inner voice that was attacking my self-confidence and then swiftly kick it to the kerb! The pause allowed me to time to connect with and hear my more softly spoken but increasingly present positive inner voice and believe it!

    2. How can pausing have an impact on your life? Where do you most need to commit to pausing?

    I am battling so many negative voices at the moment that my need to pause so that I can evaluate the harm I may be doing myself is of paramount importance and will hugely impact the progress I’m making. I will continue to commit to pausing when I hear the old familiar negative voice, or the voice of my eating disorder so that I can challenge it.

    This is certainly is up in my list of most valuable challenges so far. Thank you, Rosie!

  4. Susannah

    1. Where did you pause today? What difference did it make?

    My pause today was just after lunch, I felt I had so much to do, that I was getting close to panicking. So I closed my laptop, and went for a run. After my run, I had a lovely shower and a drink, and then I went back to work. I was more relaxed than before, and I was also way more productive.

    2. How can pausing have an impact on your life? Where do you most need to commit to pausing?

    I think I need to learn to take time outs. Even if it’s only 5 or 10 minutes, when I feel overwhelmed, I need to step back. And I think maybe when I go back to school, I need to used the breaks as breaks. So not use them for emails or meetings, but just to eat my lunch, or drink some tea.

  5. emily strickland

    Boy, I should have read this earlier in the day…I could have used a pause at work. Right now, I am going to pause and listen to my children playing, and remember why it is that I work.

  6. Valerie

    Since I started working through Shine this month, I’ve seen small changes in what I’m doing. Today I didn’t have a long pause that was conscious, but I have noticed myself taking small breaks and just clearing my mind of everything that is going on and relaxing for a few minutes. It helps me focus better when it is time to do work again.

    Pausing is something that can impact my life if I let it…and I am seeing the committing to small pauses, at this point in my journey, is serving me well. I go balls to the wall, every minute I’m awake, whether its working, tutoring, going to school, taking care of family, or walking…I don’t stop until I fall into bed. By taking small pauses, I am giving my body a chance to relax for a few minutes, and learning what it feels like to take care of myself.

  7. Cassie Virgin

    I wish I had read this before work today… But tomorrow is another chance to practice pausing! Though I did pause this morning when resting my hand on my husband’s shoulder while lying in bed. He was just about to get up because the alarm had gone off, and we both spent two minutes just breathing together and feeling each other’s warm sleepy presence.

  8. Jackie

    I paused today in the grocery store when my four year-old was dancing around the cart noisily, getting in the way, and my one year-old was trying to climb out of the cart. I took a couple deep breaths then considered how we could make it through the trip in tact. Then I used the mommy-means-business voice to tell my son that now was not the time for dancing and to tell my daughter that she needed to stay put. Not that logic always works with preschoolers but it worked this time.

  9. Faith

    I was just thinking why did she start this in august with the kids going back to school i barely have a minute to breath and so wish this was started in September so that i could “pause” everyday and read it!!!

  10. Cecile

    As I was walking today, I wanted to enjoy the nature around me – but I just couldn’t. I was hurrying, my head was so full with thoughts, voices, songs, to-dos … I stopped and breathed deeply. It took several minutes until I finally began to notice details in the landscape: the shades of single apples in the trees, a tree that was probably struck by lightning, 3 purple flowers… I went on, and curiously my steps were automatically much slower. As from this moment, I really, deeply enjoyed the walk.

    Thanks to your post, I remembered following quote. For a while I paused much more often. I’ll do it again – Thank you for the reminder!
    “Try pausing right before and right after undertaking a new action, even something simple like putting a key in a lock to open a door. Such pauses take a brief moment, yet they have the effect of decompressing time and centering you.” A life practice from Br. David Steindl-Rast

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