"In our lives, we often find ourselves in situations we can't control, circumstances in which none of our strategies work. Helpless and distraught, we frantically try to manage what is happening. . . . The more we fear failure the more frenetically our bodies and minds work. We fill our days with continual movement: mental planning and worrying, habitual talking, fixing, scraping, adjusting, phoning, snacking, discarding, buying, looking in the mirror.
What would it be like if, right in the midst of this busyness, we were to consciously take our hands off the controls? . . . what if we were to intentionally stop our mental computations and our rushing around and, for a minute or two, simply pause and notice our inner experience? . . . A pause is a suspension of activity, a time of temporary disengagement when we are no longer moving toward any goal. . . . The pause can occur in the midst of almost any activity and can last for an instant, for hours, or for seasons of our life. . . . We may pause by stepping out of daily life to go on retreat or to spend time in nature or to take a sabbatical. We may pause when we feel suddenly moved or delighted or saddened, allowing the feelings to play through our heart. In a pause, we simply discontinue what we are doing - thinking, talking, writing, planning, worrying, eating - and become wholeheartedly present, attentive, and, often, physically still. . . . A pause is, by nature, time limited. We resume our activities, but we do so with increased presence and more ability to make choices.