Sharing a story from last December…
I had a really hard morning at work last week.
I needed to take my own advice and get my upstairs brain back online.
There’s a quick self reflection exercise that I have been sharing at workshops for years, and it came to the rescue that morning! My thoughts and emotions were spinning out, and I realized I had a choice to make – carry that frustration around with me mindlessly or press pause before moving on.
I chose to “Press Pause.”
I managed to find my breath and then
- notice how I was feeling;
- be curious, without judgment, about how I was reacting to that feeling; and
- decide the wisest and kindest way I could respond.
I was feeling extremely frustrated, maybe even a bit like a failure, and my first reaction was to march on – to stuff the feeling and continue with my day as planned.
With a few more seconds of breathing, my inner voice became a little more gentle. I realized it was a tough morning on the heels of a lot of difficult days that had left me neglecting myself.
If I was going to be effective with the rest of my therapy sessions that day and parenting that night, I needed a break.
What is the wisest and kindest way you can respond?
So in that moment, as silly as it sounds, the wisest and kindest way I could respond was to paint my nails for the first time in months. It let me slow down, see the pretty color, and then have a visual reminder the rest of the day that I matter.
After all, if we don’t let our own emotions and selves matter, how can we really be an encouragement to others?
I try to practice the press pause technique as much as I can. To make it a little easier to remember, I’ve prepared a quick cheat sheet here. Give it a whirl right now, even! You don’t have to wait for a tough moment. I’d love to hear how it goes – send me a quick email.
I’m glad we’re in this together!
