Permission to Pause

Hey Party People,

We all have the same 24 hours in a day.

How often do you say or hear someone say, “I don’t have time.” (seriously, you’ll notice how often you say it now that I pointed it out😉 ) The truth is, yourself or others are just not making the time. We make time for what we want or waste it on what we want, its that simple. It’s a choice.

What’s so important to recognize though, is that time is a gift. It’s a finite resource we only have so much of. The saying goes - life is too short. This is both true and completely inaccurate haha. Life is the longest thing we humans will ever know or experience in this realm or in this body. But time is always passing us by, making it feel like our lives may be too short. We are often too busy, so distracted, or so worried that we miss it. We get caught up in the day to day and forget that each day is a gift.

Something I noticed and was surprisingly grateful for when COVID hit was the erasure of my calendar. Wiped clean. For a person that tends to keep their calendar pretty jam-packed this had a real impact on my day-to-day. I didn’t know how I would handle it. But the gift of a clear calendar was one I became incredibly grateful for because I then got to choose what went back into my calendar, what I really cared about, and wanted to spend my time doing. We all have the same 24 hours in a day and of course, we all have a variety of responsibilities but how you prioritize those responsibilities is your choice.

What COVID also gave me was permission to pause. With my calendar empty and the option to plan ANYTHING was gone, all I could do was just be. Planning became non-existent, at least in the beginning. I got to sit in my life and where I was in exactly that time and space and reflect, feel, sit, think, and choose what I wanted. It was a beautiful disaster – our lives got flipped upside down and scattered all over the kitchen floor. And over the last 4-5 months we’ve begun to pick up the pieces, but maybe there are some pieces that should be swept up and thrown in the trash. What do you think? Maybe we don’t salvage every piece of our old life, but focus on the best pieces and use those to build what comes next.

As things start to shift and your calendars begin to fill back up with clubs, board meetings, hockey practice, and more zoom calls take a second to really check in. Of all the things you used to do, which of them brought you real joy? Which of them brought others joy? And which ones were just a god damn struggle, you know those things that you felt like you had to do. I think as we are transitioning into this next phase and into the Fall we all need to take another pause.

“In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to.”  - Dave Hollis

For me, it’s been an ongoing transition to reintroduce things, people, and goals back into my life and truthfully I am feeling overwhelmed. I feel like everything I used to do I have to do again, but I also know I don’t want all the same things now. Things are creeping back into my calendar and its starting to feel jam-packed again and I don’t like it. I am realizing I don’t have time (see I just said it) for all the things that I truly want or the people I crave. Many might think or believe that we can’t have everything we want, or that we can’t always choose the things that bring us joy because… we have to work, or we have kids, or or or… we make excuses for why we don’t make time for the things we truly want. I don’t like to buy into that fallacy. I believe we have a choice in how we spend our time and can always, always, make time for us. You have to.

So How often do you use the excuse that you don’t have time? We all have the same 24 hours in a day. So I’m going to give you just a few ideas to help you make time and truly value this finite resource. 

1. BE MORE PRESENT. Every second, minute and hour will pass whether we like it or not so try to be in those moments and experience them in full. This is incredibly important and significant because when you are present you are feeling, you are experiencing that moment in full. This might be in bliss, or pain, this might be in laughter or in tears, but by being present we are experiencing our lives in full. What other way would you want to live?
2.  FOCUS. When you are doing a task, any task, focus on what you are doing 100%. This could be doing dishes, writing an email, doing homework or dreamwork anything. Just be in that task fully and you will get it done so much more effectively.
3. TURN OFF NOTIFICATIONS. For real y’all!! Go into your settings right now and turn off ever social media notification there is. It will feel uncomfortable at first but it will free up so much of your time because you’re not always distracted or pulled to pick up your phone and check it. You can check your platforms when you choose to, not when prompted to.
4. START MAKING TIME AND STOP MAKING EXCUSES. If there is something you want in your life– choose it. Period. 
5. GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO PAUSE. Slow down you guys. Our world lives at a fast pace but you choose how you run your own race. Choose your pace, choose your path, and give yourself permission to pause when things are getting a little hairy. Then start again.

I hope some of those are helpful as we move into the next season. I know I have some decisions to make and priorities to choose about what goes back into my calendar and what the rest of my 2020 will look like.

One important thing to always make time for is your PARTY JAM!

YouTube >>  The Record Company – Life to Fix

Spotify >>  The Record Company – Life to Fix

 

Have a great week! If you like my posts check out the main page to subscribe! You’ll get inspo in your inbox every Monday! And Say hi on social party people!  

 

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With so much gratitude,

 

-S