When she broke 17 bones, Anita’s friend said it was the greatest gift she’d received. Sure, an unexpected response. The gift came in the extended forced pause. To quiet, to listen. To seek honest answers from herself to big questions ‘what do I want?’ and to question what mattered most now in midlife and beyond (as well as how to do I heal my body :) ).

But they don’t have to be big, or forced. We can choose very small pauses to ground, reset and appreciate what we’re feeling and what an honest next step might be.

Or, it might gift us not knowing. Space. Quiet. To feel.

Those small pauses based on what we need in that moment that will serve us well. Aligned with what matters most to us, our values.

It might be choosing to read a new book for 20 mins instead of doing the washing. The washing will get done…when it gets done.

How you show up for you, is showing others how to show up.

Do you love yourself enough to pause?

How do you pause? Small pauses. Larger pauses? We’d love to know and so might others who are seeking to pause and what that could look like for them.

Thanks for being here. To taking counter-cultural pauses. No guilt. No judgement. No shame.

Anita & Erica.

p.s. In the chat we talk about ‘honest steps’ words Anita found, that struck deeply, in a note here on Old Man Talks on Substack.

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