Could you use . . .

a mental rest
a relaxed body
a breathing space
a clearer mind
smoothing out of emotions
a wiser way
a grateful heart?

I know I could!!!

So, to be perfectly honest with you, I am not peaceful at this moment.
Thus, I am calling out to all of you for help.
How can you help me? How can we help one another?

I was hoping today was going to be a day in which I experienced some of these very possible things anyone can experience in the list above.

My day began great! Woke up earlier than usual and couldn’t get back to sleep so I decided to go for a walk before the St. Louis July heat set in. Good decision! I congratulate myself for following INspiration on that one. 

After breakfast and getting laundry going, I decided to have some morning quiet time which has become a rare event because I usually work instead! Poor decision. Not following INspiration who simply is calling me to rest. But today I truly do stop. Good decision!

Next, I wrote a post that felt truly guided by inner Wisdom, but then I let my peace of mind be destroyed. The story isn’t worth passing along. Though I will say that I was forcing myself to NOT follow the inner Wisdom I received. That will destroy your peace! I can’t, at this moment, seem to get past my lack of peace. And, as I teach in Pause, I will not repress my lack of peace or spew it all over someone else.

Rather, I will go within to this light that sparkles brighter than any fireworks ever could to receive help,

AND

I will go to others, like you, to ask for help from
your inner light. 
together we can pause ~
together we can get out of our own way ~
together we can open the door for the TRULY HELPFUL Fireworks, ~
the inner light and love we all carry and share ~
together we can follow thIS light and love, so that ~
together we can be the light and love FOR one another and
be the light and love FOR the world ~

I can’t do this alone, none of us can,
nor are we supposed to do it alone.
Why else would we all be here? 

Taking a few moments to go through this
Pause for Peace of Mind Practice below
can help all of us, because it
can shine a light from within each ONE of us
all over ONE another and all across this world we share.

Peace be with you, You are the light FOR the world,

Mary . . . and thank you FOR HELPING.

HOPE YOU ENJOY TODAY’S HAPPY 4TH OF JULY PAUSE!

It wasn’t anything important anyway!

Shared by Lisa – A Pause Crew Member

My husband, Mark, and I were out on errands the other day. It was midday and Mark was hungry and like most – myself included – he was a little foggy-headed with a short attention span and not really “there”.

While in the car, we were chatting about nothing in particular – just filling the space really. I could tell he was not really “there”. I also noticed he was making the effort to be present by asking questions. 

He asked me a question and as I started to answer,
he interrupted!

What!  Seriously?!?  How dare he!

After his interruption, he asked, “What were you saying?”

With Mark in this hunger-induced “denseness,” I could feel that my response was going to be harsh and impatient. I felt my eyebrows draw in and felt my heartbeat surge. Irritation (my cubical mind) wanted to be in control of my response and not in a nice or helpful way!

I made the choice to Pause while I was driving and I got out of my own way by not letting irritation lead me to bad feelings (which would have then turned into a bad day and possibly a disruption in my relationship). 

I asked my Inspired Heart∞Mind, “What would be helpful right now?”

I heard, “Let it go! It wasn’t anything important anyway!”

I happily followed the advice I was given and I let it go! When Mark asked again what I had said, I simply said it was nothing and we started talking about our plans for the rest of the day. We had a lovely day too!

Just think; had I not Paused and asked for help with how I was going to respond, the day may have gone very badly!

Pausing for how, what, and when to respond saved the day!

Allow Room for Another Way

Your feelings, thinking, planning, figuring, judging saying and doing
need not be pushed out of your awareness 
as if pretending they are not there.
Fear Pushes Away.
Inspiration Draws you close.
In drawing close, Inspiration will gladly take from you
all that you choose to give away
in exchange for another way – a peace-filled way. 

Better to have a bad day
and eventually come into the presence of Inspiration Within
than to have a good day all on your own!

Breathe

The breath of Inspiration is clear and clears – 
This Peace is breathing in you – Breathe in this Peace.

Give Some Space

Giving some space happens
in your stepping back from yourself
and all that is happening in your mind.
Spaciousness enters and lightens the load. 

Let Your Mind be a Clean Slate

Your world is not going to suddenly fall apart
if you take a moment or two and allow awareness
to spread out a fresh, clean, open space
upon which you may take a seat. Be here.

Shared from the Pause Golden Book, page 22

Resting in an afternoon pause.

I call upon the LOVE, the WISDOM, the INSPIRATION, the PEACE that

I have come to know and trust. This Inner Sacred Heart. 

Not a mere idea or thought to be debated and argued about, but rather a Living Presence,

palpable, tangible, and real, right here, right now.

In a pause, I say with Loving Presence,

“I give myself to you, Love. Take care of everything.”

Floating into my mind I see an image of a cup 

that simply can’t hold anymore.

My cup is full. My cup is gushing.

Gushing with to-do, adding judgments, full of self.

Overflowing with nothing.

In a pause, I say with Wisdom Presence,

“I give myself to you, Wisdom. Take care of everything.”

Now, I see the cup of the mind of the self,

a cup overflowing.

I watch self spill out more of itself, over the rim it goes.

Again, I pause, saying with INSPIRATION,

“I give myself to you, Inspiration. Take care of everything.”

Without my effort

little by little this cup of stuff is lifted up and disappears.

I rest in an unburdened rest, lighter, freer. 

In this rest, the self feels empty because its cup has been emptied,

so it begins to fill it ~ again;

self can’t stop self from being self. 

Uncomfortable with the empty cup,

worried it might lose its cup, it might be taken away.

Again, I pause, saying with Inner Sacred Heart,

“Continue to empty my cup all throughout the day,

thus providing Another Way.”

Thank you, Peace for taking care of everything.

No Matter What

Remember the band “Badfinger”? Driving down the highway singing and jamming, I hear a split second of music and immediately recognize their tune, “No Matter What”! I am a dancer and choreographer and the music flooded my mind with memories of choreographing a Pom Pom routine to this tune in high school. I about danced myself out of the car! lolol 

As a teen feeling vulnerable at every turn, I loved this tune because in listening to it I felt that no matter what, I AM LOVED. No matter that I feel as if no one seems to even notice I exist, I am loved. No matter what people think of me or how someone who hasn’t even bothered to get to know me may size me up and down, I am loved. No matter what I think of myself, for better or for worse, I am loved. No matter what errors in judgment I may make, I am loved.

NO MATTER WHAT.

MY INNOCENCE IS A DONE DEAL

BECAUSE I AM LOVED

LET LOVE, LOVE YOU

NO MATTER WHAT

The tune “No Matter What” is speaking more about romantic relationships, but when I hear the lyrics, I have always imagined and experienced THE REAL LOVE, THE LOVE THAT LOVES US ALL, NO MATTER WHAT, ALWAYS, UNWAVERING, FOREVER. I am grateful that I am open to letting This LOVE, love me, and to practicing pausing to truly receive this LOVE throughout my day.

Here are the lyrics and/or you can listen to the tune by clicking on the button below! Dare you sing along? Ooooh, maybe even dance?

No matter what you are

I will always be with you

Doesn’t matter what you do, girl (boy)

ooooh girl, wIth you

No matter where you go

I will always be around

Won’t you tell me what you found, girl

ooooh girl, won’t you

Knock down the old grey wall

Be a part of it all

Nothing to say, nothing to see, nothing to do

If you would give me all

As I would give it to you

Nothing would be, nothing would be, nothing would be

No matter where you go

There will always be a place

Can’t you see it in my face, girl

ooooh girl, want you

No matter what you are

I will always be with you

Doesn’t matter what you do

ooooh girl, want you

A moment when everything just CLICKS. 

The light goes ON . . . YOU KNOW.

WHAT ARE YOU EXPERIENCING IN THESE MOMENTS?

ENERGIZED

MOTIVATED

HAPPY

FREE

JOYFUL

INNOVATIVE

CREATIVE

A PEACE FLOWS OVER YOU.

THIS IS INSPIRATION WITHIN!

WELL, WHY ARE WE NOT HAVING MORE OF THESE EXPERIENCES?

DO YOU WANT TO BE INSPIRED?

Take a moment and ask that question.

If you gather up even one aspect of yourself that you have labeled “Good” or “Bad” and place it upon the table of your Inspiring Self Heart, you would then make room for an experience of Inspiration Within.

Releasing your grasp on who you think you are, who you have labeled yourself to be, for better or for worse, is FREEING;

YOU ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN

YOU THINK YOU ARE.

Pause Golden Book pages 158-159

Mary & The Pause Crew,

Greetings once again from Valley State Prison. May all be abounding in the Peace and QUIET of the Pause. I go there on an hourly basis it seems as I let go of that locked in cubicle sELF. Such a confused little entity I am when I

I-dentify with the CUBED ONE. As I step back, step aside, and let inspiration guide, I am set free. Thank you All So Much.

I have so much going on here with college, tutoring, daily groups, and Life. I have realized I am a little too busy. Is it possible to get (3) three more of THE 4 DECISIONS cards? I am going to be starting some new groups of about 5 to 6 people each and I would like to give a card to each participant. The 4 Decisions will always be a core practice for both groups. I memorized The 4 Decisions the first day I started PAUSE FOR INSPIRATION. 

I can’t express enough how much I appreciate all your help. I always wanted to serve others as well as benefiting myself, but I never really knew what to give. Now I know I give what I’ve been given – Love.

Grateful for all of our Pause volunteers showing up a few years ago now to package and post several hundred PAUSE PACKAGES to Incarcerated Persons. With the help of Joe Wolfe, a transformed ex-convict who taught Love, Wisdom, and Peace through how he lived his everyday life, PAUSE reached those we would have otherwise been unable to reach! Thanks Joe.



We received many letters of gratitude from incarcerated persons in return.