Finding a moment of JOY & PAUSE everyday

My mantra since last August has been trying to fit 2 things into my everyday routine. 

The challenges I have in my life right now are complex and a routine helps me jumpstart my day. 

Kinda like a car I had right outta highschool. It was a basic beige VW diesel Rabbit that got insane mileage…saved me a lot of money. The darn-cute-little-thing wouldn’t start sometimes, I would have to park near a decline, put her in neutral and coast her down a hill, pop the clutch and viola! She would start. There have been days that coasting down a hill to get going is what I need. A little push & lots patience.

My 2 things are: #1 a moment of JOY #2 a moment of PAUSE…EVERYDAY. Now there have been days where I don’t have either, days when I have no problem finding JOY, and days where the whole day is filled with ‘PAUSE’. 

At the end of my day and I’m lying in bed I think about my moment of JOY. Sometimes the moments are spontaneous, sometimes I have to seek them out, sometimes I have to create them, sometimes it’s recognizing that JOY won’t come for me today, and that’s okay.

The PAUSE is more consistent. I can easily just stop and look up at the sky. The clatter in my head disappears as I look at the clouds, listen to what birds I’m hearing, feeling the cold wind on my face, taking it all in. My PAUSE is like a mini-meditation to remind myself to slow down.

My favorite is when JOY surprises me. That little burst of feeling like a smile can cure anything. That feeling of awe & wonder take over your body…

If you want…try it. Try to create, find, or experience a moment of JOY and a moment of PAUSE everyday. I call them my ‘little-memory-gems’ like…finding an agate, seeing a fox cross the road, hearing a loon, finding wild blueberries, or encouraging words from a friend. Look up at the sky, or sit down and feel the earth beneath you, close your eyes, listen, feel, take a deep breath in and slow everything down.

(top photo) cows that were at a Community College that I liked to visit. (bottom photo) is my VW diesel rabbit I had for a few years. These were “panoramic photos” that required special film & camera back in the early 1990’s I found then recently going through some old boxes of ‘stuff’.