Pause for Perspective

As we look towards the end of the year, what can you see ahead of you?

As we look towards the end of the year, what can you see ahead of you?

We’re fully into November.

The clocks have changed, daylight savings has started on both sides of the pond, and the evenings are drawing in.

With just 7 weeks left (yes, really!), it’s a useful moment to press pause before we head fully into the darker months and the busy-ness of the end of the year. To reflect on what’s behind us, and what we can see ahead of us.

It’s something I always find it helpful - a way to gather the threads of where I am and what’s been going on, and re-orient myself for what comes next - often so hard to do in the busy-ness of my everyday life!

What needs to go back in the box?

What needs to go back in the box?

There’s always a time in a jigsaw puzzle when I have too many pieces out.

Ones that are useful are mixed in with ones I thought might fit somewhere or could fit somewhere or should fit somewhere. They end up stored around the edges and in piles - and turn into an overwhelming mess!

There’s simply too much on the table and I can’t see the wood for the trees.

It’s time to stop and have a giant tidy up. To put everything I can’t see a home for back in the box and focus on what’s actually useful.

Who can you celebrate your wins with?

Who can you celebrate your wins with?

There’s a particular joy when you achieve something special.

Perhaps a plan comes together, a long-held goal is realised, or something you hadn’t anticipated springs to life. Or you pause to look back and realise you’re exactly where you hoped you could be.

The sense of achievement can be enormous - and accompanied by a whole range of other emotions. Relief, delight, exhaustion, excitement, joy, sadness that something has come to an end, even though that’s what you wanted!

So it helps to take some time to bask in all of it, to let it wash through and over, to settle into it. To reflect on and notice all of the parts and acknowledge them. To celebrate the moment and the work that went into it before moving on to what comes next.

Which can be surprisingly hard to do!

Are they the only 2 options?

Are they the only 2 options?

Sometimes in life it can feel as though we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Perhaps we’re trying to make a decision about whether to stay and put up with where we are, or leave now to find something new?

Or choosing whether to keep the peace and stay quiet, or speak up and create conflict?

Or wondering whether to say yes and go all in, or no and let it go?

Does your brain work better out loud?

Does your brain work better out loud?

When I’m trying to figure something out, the hardest place to do so is in my own head.

My thoughts and feelings go round in circles, trying and failing to find a way through - never the most useful process!

Once I get them out - either onto paper, or into words - it’s so much easier to see and understand what I think and feel.

And it’s not just me.

What’s good in your life?

What’s good in your life?

I’ve had many beautful examples of what’s good in my life over the last few weeks - the flexibility to expand my horizons and have new experiences, thoughtful gifts and messages, connecting with people who I feel most myself with, doing work that lights me up, and so much more.

It’s a wonderful dose of good energy, and a reminder to acknowledge and appreciate what I have - because it can be easy to forget!

And I know I’m not alone.

A (birthday) gift of pausing for perspective

A (birthday) gift of pausing for perspective

It’s the week of my birthday.

The end of one annual cycle and the start of a new one. A time to pause and a moment to reflect, to celebrate, and to look ahead.

I’ll be doing just that - tucked away in a corner of the Lake District and at home.

So, in place of a reflection this Monday, here’s a birthday wish - with love from me to you.

What would help you feel better?

What would help you feel better?

When I was away recently I hit a low point.

I hadn’t slept well for a few nights and was fed up of being in unfamiliar territory. I was under the weather, longing for some time and space on my own, and feeling very sorry for myself!

I found myself wishing I was back at home so I could take care of myself.

And then I stopped to think. What would I actually do if I was at home right now? What would help me feel better?