The Sacred Pause

When Rest is the Assignment

We’re taught how to keep going - how to perform, how to plan, how to stay productive, no matter what.  But the world rarely teaches us how to stop. How to listen inward. How to rest without guilt. How to trust the quiet.

And yet, beneath all the noise - the pressure, the pace, the proving - there’s a quieter wisdom that waits. It doesn’t run on urgency. It runs on alignment.

When that rhythm finds you, it doesn’t always look like clarity. Sometimes, it shows up as exhaustion. It feels like slowness. It arrives as stillness. And if you’re not used to honoring the pause, it might even feel like you’re failing.

In the latest episode of Greatfully You, I share what happened when life asked me to stop - not as punishment, but as invitation. A spiritual assignment I didn’t expect. One that peeled back layers of my need to perform and led me back to the deeper truth beneath the striving.

But this blog? It’s not just about my story. It’s for you.

For the part of you that’s been craving space to breathe. For the soul that’s been whispering for rest. For the quiet place within that’s tired of pushing, and ready to soften.

If you’ve been moving slower than usual…If your clarity has gone quiet…If your heart is asking questions that the world doesn’t seem to have time for…

You’re not falling behind. You might just be in a sacred pause of your own. And this, right here, is a great place to land.

Let's begin exploring…

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The Hidden Curriculum of Exhaustion

Most of us were never taught how to pause. We learned how to deliver, to achieve, to stay relevant, to keep running until the world finally called us worthy. But there’s a cost to that kind of living. A cost that creeps in quietly, until rest no longer feels restful, and exhaustion becomes well…simply said… our way of “life.”

What I have found, is that this isn’t just physical tiredness, but a soul weariness that no nap can heal. It settles in your body, but it begins in your spirit - often when you’re living out of sync with your true rhythm just to keep up with someone else’s.

You wake up tired even after sleeping. You feel unsettled in moments that should be peaceful. You question yourself: Have I lost my fire? My clarity? My worth?

But what if this isn’t a breakdown? What if this is a breakthrough in disguise? A divine recalibration, perhaps? What if your soul is just tired of running away from itself?

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The Wisdom of Stillness

All ancient traditions hold a secret:

Stillness is not emptiness. Stillness is sacred.

It’s the place where presence meets the Divine - where striving falls away and realignment begins. Before there was “doing,” there was being. Before there was productivity, there was presence.

Photo by Paris Simon Jr @ REDL TV

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, God whispers in a still, small voice. In Vedic texts, silence is the highest form of prayer. Indigenous cultures honor the forest, the mountain, the cave - not as retreats of failure, but as initiations into wisdom.

Yet in today’s world, somehow, we’ve forgotten this.

Stillness became suspicious. Rest got labeled as laziness. And exhaustion became a badge of honor. But Spirit is not in a hurry. And your soul? It cannot be rushed.

There is a holiness in waiting that the world has tried to make us forget. But it is alive… in you.

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When You’re Ready to Listen....

Maybe you’re here because something inside you knows it’s time to slow down. Maybe what once felt alive  - work, your art, your calling -  now feels quiet. Maybe your body carries fatigue that no caffeine can fix. Maybe something is ending, and you don’t yet know what is beginning.

If that’s where you are, then you’re not lost. You’re on the threshold. And those are always sacred.

They’re the space between what was and what is becoming. The place where you let go of who you thought you had to be and make room for who you really are. You don’t have to rush through this space. You’re allowed to linger.

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The Pause as Sacred Space

You are not lazy. You are not behind. You are not losing your purpose. You are entering the chrysalis.

The world may label your stillness as a setback - but Spirit sees it as preparation.

A pause before the blooming, a deep breath before the becoming.

No butterfly rushes the cocoon. No seed shames itself for needing the dark. So why should you?

If your energy has faded, if your clarity feels far away, if what you want more than anything is quiet - you are not broken. You are being called back to your center. To your Source. To the place where truth lives underneath performance.

You are not being asked to abandon your dreams. You are being asked to remember their roots.

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The Bear That Appeared in the Quiet

Before I had language for this season, an image began to rise in moments of stillness for me - not through thought, but through presence.

A bear. Still. Grounded. Watching.

Photo by AJ @ Dove Photography

It would come quietly, like a symbol my soul already knew. I just didn’t understand it, but each time it appeared, something in me softened. There was a knowing beneath the surface that this matters.

Then, on a flight I almost didn’t take, I sat beside a woman who spoke openly about grief and healing. She shared her photography, and the very first image she showed me?

A bear. And her cub. Moving through the wild together.

In that moment, it all clicked - not just the image, but the season I was in.

Bears don’t rush. They honor hibernation. They lead in silence. They rest because they know when it’s time. And when I saw that photo, it felt like God whispering:

“Do you see? Even this stillness is sacred.”

That image became a reflection of my spirit - a mirror of the mother, the guide, the wanderer, the becoming.

I’ve included my new friend's photo to invite your own reflection. Let it speak to the part of you that’s tired, but still holding strength. Still listening. Still here.

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Listening in the Wilderness

I’ve lived through this space before - and I’m living it again now.

There are seasons when the mic goes quiet. When the downloads stop coming. When the ambition fades. It feels like loss. It feels like invisibility. But it’s not the end.

Because every sacred story has a wilderness.

Moses had the desert. Jesus withdrew to the mountains. Buddha sat beneath the tree. The mystics wandered. The prophets waited in caves.

Why?

Because clarity doesn’t come from crowds. Truth isn’t shaped by noise. The wilderness is where Spirit speaks unfiltered. Where your soul finds its own voice again.

And in that silence, something holy begins to grow.

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A Blessing for the Tired

If you are tired, there is no shame in your weariness.

Let your body speak its truth. Let the ache rise before rushing to silence it.

If rest is calling, you are allowed to answer - not with guilt, but with grace.

And if the only prayer you can whisper is “help,” let it be enough. Because it is.

You are not less worthy in stillness. You are not less spiritual when you fall quiet. You are not drifting…you are deepening.

There is wisdom in your fatigue... a sacred rhythm beneath the surface, calling you back - not to performance, but to presence.

You are not falling apart.

You are being pulled into your center, to the holy rhythm that was always yours.

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An Integration into Your Sacred Pause Practice

This isn’t a checklist, but more of an invitation to return inward into yourself.

Let these practices guide you gently. Move through one, or all, as you feel led.

Set the Atmosphere Create a space that feels peaceful, by dimming your lights and letting the noise of your day fall away. If it feels right, light a candle - a simple reminder, that even the smallest flame holds steady in darkness.

Reflection

Now that your space is ready, turn your thoughts inward. Remember this isn’t about fixing or figuring anything out. This is about listening… so begin by asking yourself:

• What story have I believed about rest?

• Where did I learn that my worth is tied to what I produce or who I serve?

• What is the first memory I have of feeling guilty for slowing down?

• Whose voice do I hear when I say, “I should be doing more”?

• If I let myself stop - not forever, just for now - what emotions rise? Fear? Relief? Grief? Longing?

• What if the tired part of me is the one that knows it’s time to let go and trust what’s next?

• What would it mean to call my exhaustion sacred - not as an excuse, but as an invitation?

Let the answers come. Let them be messy or quiet or whatever you need them to be. Let them be enough.

Journal - Write a Letter to Your Tiredness

If your soul has begun to speak, give it a page to land on. Write to the tired part of you like it’s an old friend. Ask it:

• What do you need right now?

• What are you carrying in silence?

• What are you making space for?

Let your response come from the honest, quiet part of you… not the part that needs to explain.

Name Your Season

Say this aloud or within: “I am in a sacred pause." Let the words echo through your heart. Even if you doubt. Even if you don’t fully believe them yet. This season is not wasted. It is sacred.

Return to Breath

When shame rises… when urgency knocks… when fear says, “you should be doing more” … pause.

Inhale the word: Permission.

Exhale the word: Becoming.

Let your breath interrupt the noise and guide you back home.

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If You Feel Something Stirring Deeper

If this met you where you are… if something inside you softened, stirred or stretched you… I invite you to go deeper.

The latest episode of Greatfully You,

“The Sacred Pause: When Rest Is the Assignment” - is streaming now on all platforms. 

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It’s not a how-to, but more of a heart-to. A reflection of spiritual interruption, divine timing, and the purpose hidden in stillness.

And if you find yourself in between moments - not quite here, not quite there - I’ve created a Bonus Affirmation Episode to hold you.

Just something soft to return to when you need a breath, a reminder, a gentle re-centering.

You don’t need to fix anything. You don’t need to be ready. You just need to be here.

And you are.

So as you move through whatever this season is asking of you…

Be Great. Be Full. And most importantly - Be YOU.