Having the courage to press - and keep pressing - pause

We recently made the difficult but important (AKA courageous) decision to postpone some activities we had planned for Psychology Month. As much as we love the opportunity that Psychology Month provides to not only highlight psychology’s role in our lives, but also acknowledge the invaluable contributions of all mental health providers, we knew that outside circumstances required us to change course.

And so here we are now continuing to keep our fingers on the pause button.

What is striking is how much courage is needed to keep pressing pause. Society and our training are really good at trying to convince us that we can do more, fit more in, cut back on some sleep, etc., etc. And on the surface we might even start to agree. (Sound familiar? --> ‘Sure, no problem, there is an opening in my calendar, I can make it work’.)

But the truth is that pressing pause is most effective when we fully let ourselves pause. And probably for longer than we think we need to, or we think is ‘necessary’, or even ‘appropriate’. Because it’s the uncomfortable-but-courageous extended pause that actually allows us to have the space and time that we need to be with whatever is showing up.

So the next time you find yourself needing to press pause, remember that you are showing great courage in both pressing pause and keeping the pause going however long you need it. And we will be cheering you on.