REFLECTION & ACTION: In the early years of my business, I received an invitation for a ten-day, ten-city seminar tour. It was a tempting offer.

I spent several hours on the phone quizzing colleagues about their experiences and asking for their advice. Should I accept? Should I decline? Toward the end of my quest for insight, a wise colleague observed that I already had all the information. She suggested I needed to be quiet with myself. Then I’d know what to do.

She was right. I had been busy, busy, busy gathering evidence to support what I already knew intuitively in my gut: This engagement wasn’t a good fit for me.

It’s possible to find plenty of good information and useful questions out there. The real gems are buried in our own hearts and minds. The toughest part is to be still and quiet enough to hear our own words of wisdom.

The next time you face a confusing challenge, grab a sheet of paper and a pen. Take ten minutes in a quiet spot. Write yourself a letter advising your best course of action.

If you can silence your critical, confusing, chaotic self-talk long enough to tune into your wisest voice of sanity, you’ll find that it’s been there all along. You probably already know what you need to stop, start, or continue. Listen with care and be thankful for that inner voice of wisdom.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK:  “Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.” – Lord Alfred Tennyson

“There is a wisdom of the head, and a wisdom of the heart.” – Charles Dickens

RESOURCE OF THE WEEK: Being offered for the first time ever, are bundles of 100 Pause Postcards featuring one of our most popular Pause images –  a Pause pillow resting in a hammock strung between the workplace and home. Also prominently featured on the front is a link to the Pauseworks website (chock full of ideas and info about wellness, balance & productivity).

Now available in packs of 100 for use in your organization to reinforce that healthy rhythm of work and play. Productivity and wellness grow when you balance pressing for performance with pausing for renewal.

Distribute these postcards at wellness programs. Tuck them into office mail slots and in-boxes. Post them over coffee machines and water coolers. Share them with employees to tack to their bulletin boards at work or place on their refrigerators at home.

The more reminders, the stickier the message! Follow this link to the Pause Shop for details and orders.

READERS WRITE: Christine H. writes:  “I’m a counselor. When people say, ‘Did I say that?’ I say, ‘Yes, you did!’ Often clients come in for counseling and ask for advice. I truly and wholeheartedly believe that we all have our best advice inside us. If we pause more and listen to our inner hero, our gut, our authentic selves, our instincts—our inner knowledge—we’re usually bang on.”

Editor’s Footnote: Since it received such a positive response last year, once again during the months of July and August, your weekly Pause will feature nine messages from the ‘Best Of Pause’. These are readers’ favorite messages from the earliest years of the Pause e-zine.

Featuring these Pause Gems will give me a bit of a breather to regroup, research, and develop some great new material. It will also introduce our more recent subscribers to some of those early ideas. The art from the Pauseworks Studio will continue to include all new images each week.

Whether you are a long time subscriber, or new to the list, I sincerely hope you enjoy these gems. Have a wonderful summer. I’ll be back again in September with your regular Pause format featuring all new info and resources.