Welcome to The Pause. Come on in and make yourself comfortable.
I’m grateful you’re here.
The hours of 2/22 are slowly fading away from us. I hope your February felt magical, and if it didn’t, I hope our time together might help.
Today’s issue is about the divine moments in life that present themselves when we need them.
Settle in, take a deep breath, and get ready to pause in 3...2...1...
🌊 Swells of the Sea
I believe the world sends us messages when we need them.
Sometimes, these messages are loud and clear - like the TV wigging out and shutting down after binging the fourth consecutive episode of Selling Sunset - and other times they’re quieter. More nuanced. Closer to a whisper.
I caught myself staring at the bookshelf in my bedroom this morning. It’s a bookshelf that I walk past at least one hundred times per day, and yet, I felt like it was the first time I was seeing what was there.
My favorite words on my favorite pages, all lined up in a row.
What’s even in these suckers??
I grabbed The Wisdom of Sundays by Oprah. Opened to a random page. And bam. There it was.
I was writing the other day about being grateful, thanking God that my experiences have hollowed me out like a hollow bone. But I was never thankful while I was being hollowed out. And I think that’s very human. When I have experienced difficult things with family or friends or in life situations, it’s very hard. I certainly wasn’t thankful to the pain in my stomach when I was recently ill. I didn’t want it to be there. But trying to hold the larger view at the same time is where gratitude lives.
So let me give you an image. If you’re at sea and you’re in a raft and the swells of the sea are huge, when you are lifted to the top of a wave, you can see for eternity. When you come down into the belly of a wave, you can’t see anything. The kind of gratitude we’re talking about is not to deny the fact that you’re in the belly of a wave and that wave might crash on you, but to never lose sight of the horizon even though in this moment you’re not seeing it.
- Mark Nepo
I needed this message. After the reset of our last issue, I was searching for some tangible next steps, and the world came through with a message for me: gratitude.
I’ve learned this and known this and lost sight of it and learned it and known it and lost sight of it more times than I care to count, and here I am learning it again.
So today, I’d love to share the wealth and remind you that gratitude is an option. That even if you are in the belly of the wave and you’re having a hard time seeing the horizon, that the horizon is there and appreciating what you have right now just might be the solace that will lead you to the top of the wave again.
⏸ Pause & Reconnect
**Get curious. Be kind. There are no right or wrong answers; just what’s true for you.**
Zoom out and think of your life.
What is one thing that feels really hard right now that you may feel grateful for in the future?
Why might you be grateful for it in the future?
Take a moment to think about the month of February.
What are three things you’re grateful for from this month?
Where could you find time to purposefully practice gratitude in the coming weeks? Month? Year?
Thanks for reading and sharing a moment with me.
Until we meet again. 🖤
- L