Let’s first understand what does it mean and how powerful it can be when practiced correctly and what impact it can bring in our day to day life.

Before we go in let me share a very famous life quote by Lori Deschene:

“Practice the pause. Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you’re about to react harshly, and you’ll avoid doing and saying things you’ll later regret.

Well, the pause is a temporary halt in your speech and your action. You stop for a minute and think about the situation before you respond to it. It does sound very simple but to master the art of the pause, you need to practice it.

“The Pause” can be a brilliant thing if we practice it and learn when to apply it. There are situations in life that are more complex than they initially appear. We are mostly not prepared on how to react in such tough situations and often things can go wrong or don’t go as planned. It can spoil a relationship, it can break you emotionally or it can affect your mental strength. 

We often make bad decisions when we are angry or stressed or when things don’t go the way we planned. Such situations are what we need to overcome, we can pause for a second, observe the situation, and think before we speak. Let the thought stay in your mind for a minute and do a quick review before you speak or before you take any action. Let your inner power decide if what you were going to do in that situation is the best possible solution or you can come up with any other feasible and better alternative.

I can think of a number of times where I wish I could have practiced the pause in my life. I often came to conclusions without really sitting down and taking the time to think the situation through. I can definitely say that the outcome of a quick reaction, quick response, or quick judgment mostly goes wrong. Reacting harshly in a heated situation can only lead us to say and do things that we will later regret. But if we make sure to practice the pause in our daily lives we will stay alert, we will have the breathing space between the situation and our immediate reaction to it. We can take the advantage of the power of the pause and the satisfaction it will bring when applied.

“Practice the pause. When in doubt, pause. When angry, pause. When tired, pause. When stressed, pause. And when you pause, pray.”  – Anonymous

So next time when you are headed into such a stressed situation set an intention to pause. Know in your mind in advance what you are likely going to encounter, then at the moment, take a deep breath, and observe the situation, compose your thoughts, make the best choice and respond. Trust me you will feel much better than if you would have replied in a snap.

We all live in a stress-filled life. Consider practicing the pause daily to overcome anxiety, impatience, and loss of emotional control as they take a toll on what we think, what we feel, and how we react.

Between react and response there is a space,

In that space there is our power to choose how to respond.

__Viktor E.Frankol