The Pause

I have to live in the moment more often,” a friend of mine declared, as she rushed into the restaurant.

I looked at my high energy friend—foot in every puddle she can muster time to splash in, always busy—and wondered where her comment came from.

“Oh…     that’s right…     you went to that relaxation seminar yesterday.”

“Well, yes”, she said. “It made me realize that I need to be more present, aware of my surroundings, what I am doing right now.”

This from the woman who walked into the restaurant with a cell phone at her ear, I thought. What I said instead: “Your sleeve is in the butter.”

Most people would agree that we need to be more present, but it’s a challenge to accomplish that outside of the relaxation seminar room.

Busy work can fog up the real moment. Calling to ask simple questions can result in a series of pressing numbers—with only a vague promise of eventually reaching a live person. We are referred to websites, then challenged to set up a password or remember the password that we set up previously, or remember where we recorded the password so that we didn’t have to remember it.

Getting help with a product can involve lifting it up or sliding it forward to find the serial number, product style number, express code number, or some other number.

It occurred to me that living in the moment isn’t always possible, or for that matter, even recommended. When I feel inundated, I try to pause and remember what I call the Pausing Pun analogy:

The Polar Bear and his friend were at a restaurant.
The waiter came to take their order.

The Polar Bear said:
“I want a hamburger……………………………………………….and a coke.”

“Why the big pause?” asked his friend.

The Polar Bear held up his paws.
“I don’t know, I’ve had them all my life!”

Author Unknown

I find it refreshing to take a few short pauses throughout the day. I think we all should. Otherwise, we’ll always be too distracted to notice when our sleeves are in the butter.

Cheryl Writing