A little pause in a busy week

My life is so full.

In the past three weeks, we have had 7 different friends stay with us at different points in different combinations. We have traveled to the central coast, I did a polar dip in the ocean. We have hosted a birthday party for one of my best friends and we have had a full-on 30th birthday extravaganza for another involving several hours of wine tasting and a double-decker party bus. I have led yet another training and coached a new associate and a prospect trainer through an awesome week of challenges. I counted: I have written/responded to...seriously, 1500 emails. I found out one of my closest friends of the last 10 years is pregnant. I have found an accountant with the help of a trusted friend reference! In the span of this, I have somehow managed to nail down a method of keeping at least the lower floor of our house looking, if I do say so myself, damn presentable almost every day. Also, I have gone to bed happy every night and with the arms of the man I love around me. Life is full but so very good.

All of this has not left a lot of space for pause. I have attempted to take pause throughout, and it has resulted in just 3 blog posts so far. Today I decided that keeping with my intention was slipping, and so I made a very simple effort. My day was completely booked up, nearly every minute I was scheduled to meet with someone or do a conference call or prepare something or other. In the midst of this, I had a cancellation for a clinical assessment I was scheduled to do out in the valley. Instead of immediately filling that space with the loudest demand screaming at me, I took a pause. 

This pause was simple. It involved picking up my notepad and iPhone and walking outside into the sunlight. I sat by the inverted fountain on campus and called the love of my life. I sat on a bench soaking in the 75 degree weather and bright sun for 5 minutes. I took out my notepad and made a list of my to-do items in order of their demand with thoughtfulness. I allowed myself the time to think about what was really important to accomplish today versus whose voice or email was yelling at me loudest to get what done. I breathed deeply and went back to work. From that point forward, my afternoon felt like a different day. I kicked my feet up while I worked. I ate a bowl of cherries, a ripe tangerine, and drank a nice glass of ice water. I felt great. Once I got home, I made dinner for myself and noticed that the earlier pause made me appreciate the simple beauty of things like how the little purple tomatoes looked so lovely on my baby lettuce salad. I ate my eggplant parmesan slowly without any distraction of music or tv or reading or work in just my own company. I thought about how I am going to have a long-awaited break for a weekend away with my dear Anna at a spa this weekend, and how incredibly 1) lucky I am to be able to do this and 2) how hard I have worked to earn and save my money to be able to afford things like this now. Then, I had a great Skype call with an professor on sabbatical in Hong Kong about a project that we are collaborating on. I felt relaxed and at peace. It is completely stunning to me the cascade of mindfulness and gratitude that an intentional 5 minute pause can precipitate. 

I picked the right resolution.