The Power of the Pause

Summary

The author reflects on overcoming a personal setback involving a disruptive living situation, which led to a deeper appreciation for the present and ultimately improved their writing productivity on Medium.

Abstract

The author, approaching their one-year anniversary as a Medium writer, shares their journey through a significant life disruption. Initially aiming for 1K followers within the year, they faced a setback when a mentally unstable landlord forced them to move back home, pressing 'pause' on their life and plans. Despite the uncertainty and stress, the author found gratitude in the simple joys of daily life and maintained their writing discipline, eventually exceeding their goal of 12 stories in a month and gaining more followers. The experience taught them to embrace the present, find joy in uncertainty, and listen to themselves, leading to a more harmonious life perspective.

Opinions

The author believes that everything happens for a reason and that even difficult experiences have valuable lessons.
They express that pauses in life, though challenging, can lead to personal growth and a reevaluation of one's path.
The author suggests that society has become too focused on the future and often overlooks the beauty of the present moment.
They advocate for embracing uncertainty as an opportunity for new experiences and personal development.
The author emphasizes the importance of self-care and listening to oneself amidst life's chaos.
They conclude that stress should not be allowed to overshadow the joy of the moment, and that life's invitations often come disguised as fear and uncertainty.

The Power of the Pause

Photo by Rosa Diaz

I’ve just been through what could be perceived to be a setback in my life.

I will have been a Medium writer for a year this coming April 1st. Yes — April Fools Day. The day that, like a fool, I took a “leap of faith” and published my first story on Medium. I dove into the notes I had scribbled on the pages of infinite notebooks and wrote my first story.

Ten months later, I had published close to 90 stories across various publications and had almost 700 followers. Disappointed that I wasn’t closer to the 1K followers I expected to have within the year, I decided to challenge myself to become a REAL Medium writer and publish 12 stories in a month. It was during this challenge that the setback took place.

Three months prior to this incident, I had decided to live on my own. Part of the joy in living on my own was, among other things, being able to write at any time I chose and the silence and solitude to develop more creative ideas to use in my writing.

As it turned out, a mentally unstable landlord caused me to fear for my safety and I was forced into a tailspin of unexpected, time consuming activities and mental anguish resulting in a decision to put my stuff in storage and move back in to my mother’s house until I find another place to live.

This incident made me feel as if the Universe had pressed the “pause” button on my life. While I was grateful that I had a safe and comfortable place to go, I felt as if my future was uncertain. It took some effort to remain accountable to my jobs and my writing, but I did it. And every day it became easier.

I have a strong belief that everything happens for a reason and I found myself constantly trying to figure out why this had all happened. I was in limbo. What were the lessons to be learned in this? What would it all lead to? My mind was racing at record speed and my intuition was nowhere to be found.

Then early one morning I was sitting at a table by a window having coffee and writing in my journal when I noticed how good the steaming coffee smelled and how nice it was to put my hand around the cup and feel its warmth. Then I looked at my journal and realized how therapeutic it was to write about my life every single day. There were birds chirping outside in celebration of this new day. My life was still in a state of flux, nothing had changed. Yet, it was a beautiful moment.

This lead me to feeling grateful for all that I had around me, tangible and intangible. I was healthy. I had a roof over my head and enough home cooked food to feed an army. I had been keeping up with all my responsibilities. My life was on “pause” yet there were these moments of joy.

I started living daily life and forcing myself to stop at different moments just to appreciate them. Before long, I started thinking of the future as an opportunity for new plans, new faces, new places. It occured to me that many times we are blind to the hidden treasures just beneath the surface.

We’ve become so risk averse — afraid of the unknown and fearful of the future. This pause helped me to learn to live a different way. A more harmonious way. I needed to learn to slow down and listen to myself.

“ While keeping our eyes locked on the future, we are missing out on the value of the beautiful moments that are happening in real time “ Itxy Lopez

By the end of month I had exceeded my goal by publishing a total of 14 stories on Medium and an increase in followers/readers.

We must learn that we have the power to not let stress rob us of the joy of the moment. In the fear and the uncertainty is the invitation of life.