“Don’t miss all the beautiful colors of the rainbow
looking for that pot of gold.”~Unknown
Everyone needs a break, a time to step back and create distance from something you enjoy doing. When something becomes dull or you lose focus, this is when a little time away can open up a world of possibilities.
Most of the time we think that working through this feeling of dullness or lost focus will pass and things will go back to normal. But pushing through will only cause you to lose the passion or enjoyment of something you once loved to do.
This has happened to me time and time again in my life with good and bad results. The times I pushed through are the times that I ended up hating the end result or walking away entirely.
Pushing through is the norm of our society. “Suck it up and get over it” is the cry of the people who think taking breaks are a sign of weakness and you just need to get over it.
But there is always a little voice in your head that is calling you to slow down, ease off and walk away for awhile.
Listening to that voice, your intuition, allows you to trust your heart, your soul and not your nagging mind that keeps telling you to “suck it” and keep going.
That small voice confronted me recently about taking a break from my writing schedule on Zen Chick. Not only did I have to deal with the negative chatter in my head but also the fears that accompanied that chatter.
My fears were that I would lose my passion for writing, I would lose my community on Zen Chick and that I would try to quickly find something to fill the void of not writing. All valid fears in my mind but not so in my heart and soul.
So I struggled with those fears, put them to rest and in the end gained some amazing insights during my break:
- Once the cobwebs cleared from my mind, I found a new freedom. I was free to let my mind wander more (without a deadline) and the result has been more creative ideas for my writing.
- I was able to see more clearly the direction I need to go in and discard the other paths I thought I needed to take.
- I found the real reason for my fears that showed up before my break.
- I also realized that if this break turned into a permanent one then something else was coming my way.
- And last but definitely not least, sometimes you need to let go and trust!
Head space happens when you take a break and opens up a whole new world of thoughts and things that might be hiding under the stress of just pushing through. It doesn’t matter how much you love doing something, stepping away or standing back from it can re-ignite that passion and love giving you a whole new perspective.
What about you?
Is there something in your life that you need a break from right now?
If so don’t let fear or negative head chatter keep you from taking that much needed break and gaining some new perspective or just some very needed down time. You won’t regret it!
Share the love of this post with someone in your life that might need to take a break and talk to us on our Zen Chick Facebook page about what you have learned from taking a break from something in your life.