Having An Impact With A Positive Pause
Recently, we’ve witnessed that one of our human tendencies is the propensity to release stored painful emotional charge in ways that can stray from our goal of accomplishing good. The release sometimes comes in the form of finding pleasure in lashing out to another and, that only serves to escalate the charge of any situation. 2020 is proving to be especially challenging for us all. On top of existing individual concerns, life throws in the challenge of a pandemic creating a combination of life events and heavy emotions, bringing us to a pressure cooker point of further release demonstrated in the recent news. Let’s face it; all of this can be very overwhelming and scary, leaving us without apparent solutions.
What do we do when feelings of anxiousness start to settle in as we continue to navigate through the current challenges? One option can be to take a positive pause by first acknowledging that there are always things, most of which, in no small degree, are out of our control. Even with the recent pandemic, we may not all agree on the particulars, but we probably agree that a pause was necessary to gain some clarity and strategy. Through acceptance, we lean into an awareness that what I do have control of are my thoughts and actions. Imagine for a few seconds what massive collective shift could occur if every single one of us could turn inward from the highest place possible and take complete responsibility for our thoughts and actions in a self-accountable way. What if we didn’t choose our cues from the media and constant external rhetoric that’s generated? What if we could rewind the clock to a time before the ongoing stream of overexposed opinions, politics, and external influences? Perhaps a lot of that additional charge could be avoided. At the very least, the idea gives us some perspective on how metaphorically our batteries are plugged into this perpetual generator of emotional charge. The bottom line is this, one person, one moment at a time; we can ultimately only be responsible for our thoughts and actions and how much positive or negative charge we are sending to the collective.
Creating an impact with an awareness of our use of supportive, positive words, responses, display of compassion, lack of reacting, managing our personal stress, and anxiety levels can go a long way in supporting a shift in the collective consciousness. At the very least, it may be enough for a better night’s sleep. In the mix of daily stressors, taking a positive pause, a step back when necessary to cultivate clarity, regulate personal health, better decision making, and perpetuating the good at the core of each of us can support the whole. If used wisely, a seemly small pause can reset and renew. It can offer us a way to rediscover the positives turning away from the continuously fed negatives in our lives. It becomes a chance to connect with our true essence and what we truly value and love.
None of us can be in a perfect place of being all the time. Still, by being self-accountable and taking a positive pause when necessary, we can function with better resilience and higher awareness, generating a profound impact for truly supporting one person, one incident, one day at a time.
Tool For A Positive Pause -HeartMath’s Attitude Breathing
Step 1. Recognize the feeling or attitude you want to change and identify a replacement attitude.
Step 2. Focus your attention on the area of the heart. Imagine your breath is flowing in and out of your heart or chest area, breathing a little slower and deeper than usual, find a natural, comfortable rhythm.
Step 3. As you continue heart-focused breathing, practice breathing in and increasing the feeling of your new replacement attitude.
Step 4. Practice maintaining your new attitudes and perceptions as you move through your day-to-day interactions.
PAUSE and feel the love I am sending your way!
XO Donna
