Just Pause

In the swirl of the holidays, constant commercial breaks, and the unceasing demands placed on us throughout the days, sometimes it's really hard to just stop.

Just pause.

Look out the window.

Sit on the couch and leave the TV flipped off.

Sip a toasty beverage in silence.

And pause.

.

Moving and dragging 60 3rd-grade kids through another 3 weeks of work until Winter break and traveling and getting ready for Christmas and everything else. It feels to me like my life is on fast forward.

Maybe you feel the same way.

It's like pushing your way through the busy New York streets. All around there are billboards and big screens. There's shopping and people shouting from street corners. Cars honking. Pedestrians trampling into the streets, and about five different languages being spoken at the same time. It's exciting, but it's exhausting.

What if we just paused?

Snowflakes fell softly outside the big classroom windows today. All the kids were working--furiously writing, but then some noticed the snow and got up to stand by the windows. Others followed quietly, and before you knew it, there were 20 little faces pushed up against the glass.

Just standing. And watching.

What if we did that at work? What if we did that while shopping or cooking or cleaning or rushing? What if we just paused...

...and pondered the beauty all around?

.

Take the time to notice when it starts to snow.

To notice beautiful red holly berries on a bush.

To notice the wind, the stars, the steam off your drink or the beautiful wisps of smoke from a flame.

Take the time to notice a kitten's soft fur or a child's gleam in their eyes.

And        just       pause.

.