Pause for Perspective

10 reflective questions for a summer break

10 reflective questions for a summer break

For the next few weeks, I’m taking a summer break.

It’s a lovely time to step away from my everyday life, to have a change of scene and of rhythm, to pull out and see things from a different perspective, to move at a different pace, to explore new places.

It’s also the perfect time to reflect on some questions that need a little more spaciousness to noodle on - either in a focused way with pen and paper in hand, or percolating quietly in the background of my brain while I’m doing something else.

So, in place of a reflection this Monday, here are 10 reflective questions. I’ll be taking them with me - and if you like you can too. Maybe all of them, or pick and mix, or use them as a springboard to create your own :-)

Do you need to sit still for a moment?

Do you need to sit still for a moment?

Last Wednesday my husband and I dropped our dog off for a haircut and took a rare walk without him. It meant we started in a different place, and took some different paths. We had time to explore, and time to pause.

Stu had an urge to sit on a bench and we stopped by a lake. It was peaceful and calm, and we sat and absorbed the beauty of the view. We spoke quietly, only to point out the things we were noticing.

And the more we looked, the more there was to see and appreciate.

What helps you find your way?

What helps you find your way?

Last Sunday I found my way in the Lake District.

As someone who is not renowned for their sense of direction - and has often got lost when navigating solo - this is a relatively big deal for me!

The day before we had climbed Hallin Fell as a group, then Stu and I took the long way back - a beautiful loop alongside Ullswater.

The next day it was just me and the dog.

I wasn’t 100% sure I could find my way - but I really wanted to.

What happened this year?

What happened this year?

Every December I pause and gather the threads of my year.

It’s a lovely ritual, and I’m noticing I start earlier and earlier - maybe because the rush of Christmas can quickly give way to ‘back to work’, or because it feels so dark so early, or simply because it’s a nice thing to do.

It’s absolutely not about looking ahead yet, or creating goals or resolutions - it’s about looking back to see the journey.

In previous years I’ve focused a lot on finding the story of it - looking fully at the ups, the downs, the learning, the insights, the implications.

This year I’m appreciating how powerful it is to simply look back and see what happened, from the start to right now.

So much happens each day, but it’s easy to lose track of how it all adds up when we’re in it.

What would your life look like if you viewed it from above?

What would your life look like if you viewed it from above?

I love this picture.

It represents the fun of being up high, the joy of early dog ownership, the beauty of seeing the landscape spread out down below.

It was taken on holiday in West Wales back in 2018. Freddie and I are at the top of Mwnt, while my husband and children are on the beach down below.

They were happy doing, and I was happy being and seeing them.

Seeing our lives from above like this can be both calming and grounding. Things really do look different, and feel different, when we look down on our lives rather than being in them.

It gives us a moment to pause, to see the bigger picture, to put things in context.

Just because you started...

Just because you started...

I have been a great completer finisher in my life.

Sometimes when it really would have been wiser to stop.

I’ve trained through injury, I’ve stayed too long in roles that no longer fit me, I’ve chosen to ‘push through’ when really, I needed to stop and regroup.

 

I’ve also started things that felt like a wonderful idea at the time - before I realised what the process would be like - and then felt I had to see it through.

 

So, it’s been a complete gift to realise that I don’t have to finish everything I start.

And that I often learn just as much from the things I stop as the things I complete.

It’s all useful data.

It's time for a mid-year review

It's time for a mid-year review

It’s the middle of the year.

A half way point.

A beautiful time to take a step back and look both ways.

To appreciate the progress you’ve made so far, to focus on what’s to come.

When we’re busy in our lives and work, we can forget to pause, to see the bigger picture, to put things into perspective.

And yet it’s so important.

One of my favourite quotes from Danielle North sums this up, “If you never stop to ask yourself how you are doing, how will you ever really know where you are going?”