Today an inner pause brought a person, a situation, into my awareness. With this awareness came the clear Inspiration to reach out to that person now to apologize for my impatience. Immediately, I followed my inner guidance. 

Picking up the phone I called my friend and apologized for what I felt was impatience on my part. I could feel, without a doubt, that she forgave me and I was willing to receive forgiveness all in an instant! Interestingly, she forgave not with words, but rather with her welcoming, listening, and receptive presence.

Forgiveness was given and received in 
One Simultaneous Instant!
That’s love, the Love that loves us no matter what, and I am
transformed by it.
Not until this moment did I fully realize how essential
forgiveness is because of the peace and freedom it gives.

She didn’t have to think about it. She didn’t hem and haw. She didn’t make excuses for me by telling me that I didn’t need to apologize. My experience is that when we do that it can, though not always, keep everyone from benefiting from this moment that is ripe for forgiveness to transpire.

After our forgiveness instant, she paused to inquire, to gain understanding, and express compassion because she knew in her heart that something was up in my heart that caused my impatience. Somehow, our forgiveness experience dismantled the wall I was feeling between us.

With that wall gone, we were both able to drop our guard and share. I could now see the ego trigger for my impatience and she was free to see and share her experience as well. 

True forgiveness lifts guilt, blame, and shame off our hearts and souls setting us free from having to hide behind ego walls where unforgiveness has pitched its tent!

QUESTIONS TO CONTEMPLATE WITH YOUR TRUE NATURE,
who lives in the pause by the way:
For what do you want to be forgiven?
For what are you willing to receive forgiveness?

Pause 

Step Back from ego guilt, shame, and blame.

Step Aside and let your True Nature enter into your awareness.
Ask your True Nature for forgiveness; be specific.
Trust that your True Nature is Beautiful and responds effortlessly
to all calls for forgiveness, with LOVE, for LOVE IS
the relief of the burdens we carry,
the companion we truly desire,
and
the stream of innocence never lost through whose waters we now freely wade. Now, we can rest. 

Sunflowers need Nurturing & So Do We

Shared by Natalie

Yesterday, my husband and I went to experience the Sunflower Fields at Eckert’s in Belleville. Sunflowers are my favorite flowers and after our trip to Eckerts they are now my husbands’ favorite flowers as well. Seeing a single sunflower standing tall, with its face lifted to the sun is a gift in itself, but when you see a field of sunflowers at attention it is a breathtaking splendor to behold.

I Paused to take it all in and
to see what I could learn from a sunflower.

Their True Nature is to stand confidently tall….duly noted. 
With a little nurturing, they share their seeds (their fruit) with birds and other animals, and they share their nectar with the bees and other pollinators. They seem to give their Love and Abundance without question….again, duly noted. I see I can learn a lot from a sunflower.

In the Pause Golden Book, pages 346 – 351, we see how we can Nurture and Share Abundance by our own True Nature…..

“Nurturing is meeting and accepting one’s True Nature.
It is seeing beyond that which is easily seen by the body’s eyes,
to seeing that which is typically unseen, yet extraordinary.

Your True Nature is so beautiful
that to behold it is to embrace Life itself;
it is the breath that breathes Inspiration.

Imagine if in our relationships of all kinds, we devoted ourselves to nurturing one another’s True Nature. Ah, what gifts we would be and what gifts we would bring to one another in our everyday lives. Imagine if we were as devoted to our True Nature as we are to our cubicle nature. We would see the world differently. It would be a different world;

Comforting instead of attacking,
Embracing instead of pushing away,
Offering instead of taking,
Extending instead of withholding, and who knows,

Living instead of dying.

True Nature is simple, not complicated, and it is so within your reach that you cannot get away from it – no matter what.

It is with you Always and in All Ways.
Nurturing is meeting one’s True Nature
and saying “Yes”.”

Do you have decisions to make today? 

Pausing is a helpful thing
to do in the activities of everyday life.
Shared by Natalie

After the record-setting rainfall we had last week, my husband and I are faced with decisions about how to address our storm water drainage problems. We’ve put this off for far too long. I’ve already done my due diligence and gotten several estimates from different contractors, landscapers, drainage experts and the like.

Quite honestly my husband and I are conflicted about what is the best course of action to take, functionally and financially. Making a decision is better than not making a decision in my opinion,
but that approach causes anxiety for my husband.

I need to Pause within and ask for help
from my Inspired Self on this
because I do not know what to do.
I will patiently wait for direction to be given
as to how to proceed from here.

I will Listen.

Pausing and Listening is an action within itself.
I trust in Inspiration Within to provide the direction I need. 

From the Pause Golden Book Page 74:

“Inspiration Within enters your life
in a very practical, useful way.
Be willing to see that as you are making decisions,
moving through your daily routine
and engaging in your relationships,
this Inspired Self is right there with you.
It is whispering in your ear,
“Here I am”….”
…to read more,
see page 74
in the Pause Golden Book

Click on the card above to see the front and back of the card.
You may also wish to download or print it. 

Bridging the Gap

between two minds

To perceive is “to interpret or look on (someone or something) in a particular way”.

Pausing Can Help Us
Perceive with Clarity
Wherever we are,
Whatever we are doing,
And Whomever we are with!

Do you ever experience that one part of your mind is leading this way while another part of your mind is leading that way?
It can be a mental hiccup
or it can become quite tormenting.

From the Pause Golden Book, pages 69-70:

“We may seem double-minded at times, when we vacillate between what is false and what is true; this is the double-mindedness that leads to doubt. “False” means disconnectedness from Inspiration and “True” is being joined with Inspiration. Inspiration is the spirit of love and truth available to us all.”

Practicing Pause offers us
a clear choice between the two.

“We need not be confounded any longer. We are free to choose either way of perceiving, but know that if you are confused, doubtful, and afraid, you have simply chosen the mind believing in disconnection. Thankfully, believing in disconnection does not make it true. It is, however, the cause of all dispiritedness.” 

Pause.

“Inspiration within one’s Inspiring Heart∞Mind is the covered Bridge that takes us over the gap from perceiving disconnection to perceiving union in LOVE.”

Click on the card above to see the front and back of the card.
You may also wish to download or print it. 

An experience shared by Lisa – A Pause Crew Member

One of the household chores I dread doing is
EMPTYING THE DISHWASHER.
I am super grateful to have a dishwasher but for some reason,
I have a block when it comes to
unloading and putting away the clean dishes. 

In my head, I have built this very simple, easy chore into something
more in line with climbing Mt. Everest!
I do not have time in my day to climb a mountain!

I was tired of feeling this weight every time the dishwasher
completed its cycle, so I paused and asked:

“Is there another way to see this?”
Answer from my Inner Wisdom ~ Yes, do the dishes by hand. Wash, Rinse, Dry, and Put away…[Well, okay. I am not going to do that ~ I detest hand washing dishes more than unloading the dishwasher…lol.]

so I paused again and asked:
“What would be truly helpful now?”

Answer from my Inner Wisdom ~ Set a timer and unload the
dishwasher to see just exactly how long it really takes.
Aha! Something I was willing to do! Following inspiration,
I set my timer and began unloading the dishwasher –
I did not go super-fast or slow,
just unloaded the dishwasher at a normal pace.

It only took me FIFTEEN MINUTES to completely unload the dishwasher.
It did not take the three hours that I had built it up in my head to take. 
Now, every time the dishwasher needs to be unloaded, I just do it.
It is only fifteen minutes after all!

By utilizing The Pause Practice with this simple chore, I was able
to not only ease my mind and remove unnecessary stress from my
day, but I also came into the awareness of just
how easy and Practical The Pause Practice can be!

What a wonderful re-Minder!

We all have opportunities to apply the Practical Pause Practice: 

someone or something that is
bothering us

something we keep putting off
for another day

someone we are having difficulty
communicating with

a project we are having trouble beginning

any activity or situation we
are anxious about

something that we feel
takes “forever” to do

Simply ask these two questions:

“Is there another way to see this?”

and

“What would be truly helpful now?”.

Pause. Ask. Listen. Follow.
It really is as easy as that!

Click on the card image to see the front and back of the card.

You may also wish to
download or print it. 

Feeling Apprehensive, Anxious, or Awkward?
The Pause Practice is a good practice to use in any situation!

Shared by Natalie

You’ve heard the old adage, “once bitten twice shy”. Maybe it guides you in your life – like it has in mine. Sometimes people will say or do things that will disappoint us, and regardless of how long we’ve known them, we may become apprehensive, anxious, or awkward going forward when dealing with them. This happens to me and I’d really like to change it. I realize that this reaction holds me back and gets in the way of my Peace.

So, I ask myself, how can I shake, or change, this ego response I have toward others? I decide to sit quietly in a Pause, and do my best to be patient, to see what answer(s) may show up. I find that just quieting my mind helps a great deal. It helps to stop the inner dialogue that is playing in my mind surrounding the situation. 

Then, when I am relaxed and quiet, I ask my Inner Wisdom, “how can I see this person differently right now?” At the same time, I keep my goal of Peace at the forefront of my mind. 

I desire to be open, forgiving,
loving and present
in all of my relationships,
holding onto nothing,
especially feelings of apprehension or distrust.

As I sit quietly and listen, Inspiration Within tells me to look at this person through the eyes of INSPIRATION. I follow this guidance by imagining this person in my mind and began to look at them with Inner LOVE.

I Paused in this moment,
resting in the experience.

Then, Inspiration Within reminded me that this is how INSPIRATION also looks upon & within me. I began to fill up with this LOVE. Inner Healing was upon me, for me, and then also between me and this other person.

We each have this Inspiration, this Love, Within us,
to guide us in situations
where we desire to be helpful and connected to others
(and to let go of the ego reaction that shows up sometimes).

From the Pause Golden Book, Pages 24-26:

We can put forth our questions,
thoughts, and/or concerns.
Rest in Quiet Patience for
Inspiration Within to Guide.
All of Love Awaits You,
when you give this moment to Inspiration Within. 

Click on the book above to download and read it.https://pauseforinspiration.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/PauseForInspiration.pdf

Healing Your Energy Drain

be with it

I sit here today feeling drained of energy and I am wondering why.

Who am I kidding? I know why. Reading and watching the news a heaviness settled in my bones, sadness. 

I was fully equipped to clean up the flooding in our solarium today among other to-dos, but I don’t feel fully equipped to deal with this flood of sadness. I decide to Practice Pause, The 4 Decisions. During this Pause Practice, I was guided to simply lay my hands on my body while continuing with my Pause Practice.

I began at my feet placing one hand on top of my foot, one hand on the sole of my foot while quieting my thoughts with the words of Pause. 

Resting until I was guided to move to the other foot, continuing to 
rest for as long as I choose. My hands moved upward to the knees, belly, chest, neck, face, and top of my head, an easy flow of following healing guidance.

I won’t claim that the full weight of the heaviness has been lifted.

What I can share is that I received guidance to let myself
be with my experience, to ride it out, and not push it down to get on with my day. 

Yes, we each have things we must do today, yet while doing we can use specific words and phrases of Pause that we resonate with to help be with our experience.

I already feel lighter as I choose to “be with.”

Perhaps you will incorporate resting your gentle hands and open heart upon your body today ~ feet, ankles, knees, chest ~ it doesn’t matter, no special order or technique; simply let inner Wisdom guide you while pausing for peace of mind. 

No effort, no force.
Let Your Healer Within rest your mind, soften your heart, and
guide your hands.

CLICKING ON CARDS will show you the continued practice on the back for your healing practice today.
DOWNLOAD and/or PRINT to have at your fingertips!

Pause Is a Practical Sleep Aid!

Whenever you are Willing, Read the Card Below

for Rest.

Pause Golden Book, Page 35:

Any moment that works for you,

works for Inspiration Within you.

Peace is ready for you,

whenever you are willing to receive Peace.

And, if you are not willing,

Peace is patient.

Such is how Peace is peaceful. 

An experience shared by Natalie, a Pause Crew Member:

I usually fall to sleep at night

as soon as my head hits the pillow.

However, that’s not the case every night

and some nights I just cannot turn off my brain!

Can you relate?

Well, the other night was one of those times for me.

As I lay awake in bed,

I noticed my mind churning out ideas

and solving the day’s problems

all the while keeping me awake

far.toooo.long.

I finally began running

the Pause steps through my mind.

The first time through,

my brain prevailed

and kept on and on with many thoughts.

I Paused and took a few deep breaths.

This always helps

to slow things down

– on the inside.

As I went through the Pause practice

in my mind a second time,

I did it much more slowly

and focused on my breathing.

I don’t recall anything after that.

Thankful for the Pause. 

Sleep finally came. 

Pause is a practical practice

to use wherever you are,

whatever you are doing,

whomever you are with,

and

even when you are needing rest at bedtime.

Follow this Peace and

see where it leads you

– on the inside.