PAUSE – Pause Gem #1- Wabi Sabi
EDITOR’S NOTE: This year, during the months of July and August, your weekly Pause messages will feature the ‘Best Of Pause’ – readers’ favorite messages from the earliest years of the Pause e-zine. Featuring the 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 gems.
Whether you are a long time subscriber, or new to our list, I sincerely hope you enjoy these messages. Have a wonderful summer. I’ll be back again in September with your regular Pause format featuring all new info and resources.
REFLECTION & ACTION: According to a Priority Management survey of 3,000 North Americans, Europeans, and folks from “Down Under,” only 5 percent report that they feel a sense of personal accomplishment at the end of each day.
Even though 80 percent of these respondents work more than 40 hours a week, 95 percent of the executives, administrators, and employees surveyed head out the door at day’s end feeling disappointed in themselves.
Are you one of those 95 percent?
If this sense of “dis-ease” affects you, take a close look at your expectations. It’s no longer reasonable to expect to be caught up at the end of any given day or have completed every task to perfection. The best we can hope for is to make reasonable progress on the projects that have the highest level of priority.
The Japanese phrase wabi sabi describes the ability to find joy and beauty in things incomplete, imperfect, and impermanent. This concept is worth cultivating.
Think of it this way: No, the project isn’t done but you handled tasks that moved it forward. No, you didn’t reach every person on your phone list but you left messages for most of them. No, you aren’t caught up on the laundry but everyone in your family has something clean to wear tomorrow.
You can harvest satisfaction on even the most wabi sabi of days.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Instead of looking at what we don’t have and aren’t, we need to look at ourselves and each other, enjoy what we have, and celebrate who we are.” – Pamela McKenna
READERS WRITE:
“My coach discovered two amazing things about me. First, I never stop to celebrate the good things as they happen. And second, my definitions of good and fun are far too narrow. I don’t
have to wait to celebrate the completion of a project; I can celebrate making a single phone call that will contribute to the completion of the project.
“My life has turned around in two weeks. I now stop every four or five hours and tick off my successes of the past few hours. This grounds me in the present time rather than always looking to the future and pushing forward. I feel better about picking up the load and moving forward again.” – Wayne G.
Tags: attitude, burnout, overload, overwhelm, Pat Katz, Patricia Katz, pause, perspective, stress, wellness
What a delightful idea to feature the Best of Pause “the early years” for July and August. Looking forward to the thoughtful messages and hope you will also be able to enjoy some well-deserved R n’R.
Thanks, Viola. It occurred to me, not only that I could use a pause myself, but that many of my more recent subscribers had missed the material offered in the early years. I hope you enjoy these Gems – and have a great summer.