Opinions
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A season of pause |
by Yvanne Dandan
COVID-19 has certainly taken us all on a rollercoaster ride, hasn’t it? Apart from frontline workers and those part of essential services, we have all been repeatedly asked to stay home in order to help #flattenthecurve.
I am usually a very on-the-go person with a full agenda of activities. Being at home almost all hours of the day, seven days a week is out of my comfort zone. I must admit; the first few days of quarantine were challenging for me to navigate. One of the concerns on my mind was, “how am I supposed to be productive during this time?” However, this uneasiness only revealed to me just how much I needed this “pause button” in my life right now. I am re-discovering the importance of slowing down. During this season of pause, I have already learned many things. The following quotes encompass how I feel very well. They might just resonate with you as well:
- “God is more interested in what He’s doing TO you then what He’s doing THROUGH you”
- “Don’t forget that our primary role is still to be a human being, not a human doing.”
- “Once she stopped rushing through life, she was amazed at how much more life she had time for”
- “If you don’t even have 30 minutes to take a mindful break, you definitely need at least an hour”
- “Your worth is not defined by your productivity”
I want to encourage you to do some simple reflection and ask yourself, “How do I spend my time?” Whatever your answers are to that question, I hope they follow the general themes of joy, love, and peace. I hope that you can also find the beauty in slowing down your days simply by – being.
I would like to leave you with a slow and beautiful moment to experience for yourself when you wake up tomorrow morning.
Begin your day slowly by engaging your five senses:
- Open your eyes and bring your attention to finding something in your room that you may have not noticed in a while. If you make this part of a daily practice, make sure not to look at the same thing every morning. In ensuring you look for variety, this tells your mind that you are awakening to a different and new day.
- Listen to the sounds around you. What do you hear? Do you hear sounds from the outside? Anything else?
- Feel the comfort of your bed and surroundings. It’s a blessing that you have a place of rest.
- Drink a nice glass of water and taste how it nourishes you and how dehydrated your body was from the hours spent asleep.
- Take a deep the breath in and smell the air around you, knowing that with each breath you take, that is a sign of life.