While I was lifting weights a few days ago, a thought came into my head: You gotta pause at the top of the rep, because that is what makes you get stronger. Pause, squeeze and then release.
Later in the morning, I found myself starting to get irritated with something at work. My first inclination was to just shoot off a response or to react with anger, but I stopped – paused – and took some deep breaths and then responded in a much nicer way.
When I left for my meeting, I found myself very consciously pausing all through out the day without fully understanding why I was doing it. Before I responded to anything, I paused, and then reacted. I discovered I was doing it in a myriad of ways…from taking a short walk, to deep breathing…to stopping and praying for a minute before I reacted. When I fully realized what was happening, I started to laugh a little. God is talking to me big time today.
There is so much power in the pause. In pretty much every aspect of life.
Think about this…
A pause makes you stronger. It gives you more insight. It makes you kinder and more understanding. It gives you rest and temporarily stops you from operating on auto-pilot. That auto- pilot thing…it is real. We all do this. We have these habitual responses that we give without thinking first, but if we would have paused for just a few moments, the response would have been much different. Better.
I mean, this pause is even in the Bible! James 1:19 (NIV) “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
So, I am thinking that we all need to pay attention to the pause. Try it today and experience the peace it brings into your life and the life of those around you.
Thank you so much for reading today. I hope that I made you smile and think a little bit. To reach me, visit SALending.com
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