The Power of the Pause
Joy Osaka-Lu
Scaling operations and culture sustainably with intentional business owners | Storied Artifacts | Operational fluency | Mindset and Solutions Strategist, Speaker, Author
Pauses are meant for us to incorporate all the nuances of our growth and how far we've come before moving on.
There's a lot in the psychology and spiritual communities about how important it is to pause but we've come so much farther as a collective, we need more guidance than the reflective tactics shared up to now.
We've been programmed to bullhead our way onto the next thing, setting us up to accrue the chance to do deep shadow work.
The issue is that few of us have been taught how to do this effectively so most bypass this aspect of growth.
So, this newsletter will look into all of the layers behind a pause to cull out its power.
Surface Level: Stop What You're Doing
Some pauses are caused by readily visible and understandable factors making it easy to hit the Play button again when you're ready.
It's like when pausing a movie on Netflix, you know you're in control to get up to get something to eat (replenish your energy), take a phone call (connect with another human), or decide to finish the series later (address another priority then resume on getting something done).
It's easy to stop and start at will.
Other times, we take a breath when we're challenged by a disaster or have skidded off-course.
Pressing the Play button isn't so easy and we're forced to do shadow work, to assess and diagnose the hidden elements that trip us up.
These are the times that, no matter what you do, you're forced to stop and stay stopped.
Why?
Underneath the Surface: WTF is happening?
There are times when you're pause extends itself no matter how hard you press the Play button.
These can really mess with your head and self-worth because they're not related to what your parents did or did not do as you were growing up or easily identifiable trauma.
They have to do with the deeper levels of who you are as a human, your consciousness, and your ability to create solutions to help many people.
They often have these characteristics:
Pauses of this type have a completely different nature than psychological imprints or epigenetic programming.
These are deeply seeded implants in areas where not enough societal validity is given to:
Without having this perspective, it makes it nearly impossible to perceive how to unwind them.
More people than before 2020 are bumping up this type of test and even if exerting a lot of energy, aren't moving as far as they normally would and certainly not as far as they want.
The Root Cause of Implanted Pauses
Questions and problems are posed only when the answers and solutions are an arm's length away when we're open to being brutally honest with ourselves.
So, be open to the fact that many of the most perplexing pauses are caused deliberately.
At this point, it's not important to know by whom but instead, what the gain is for you when you "do the work."
We need to get better at focusing on what we want from our challenges and tests instead of wasting our energy by looking for whom/what causes them...and being disempowered by focusing the blame on them.
At the end of it all, the only thing that matters is what you get out of overcoming an experience that limits your perception of what's possible.
In my practice, I've found that these are challenges, for myself and my clients, show up in highly contextualized and personalized ways that only you know how to find the meaning to that will liberate you forever.
Because of this, there's no formula or framework that every single one of you will fit into but there are general and unusual ways to move more quickly out of stasis.
The Courage Found in an Intermission
Stretching your mind to know that forces that affect us aren't always man-made is often the first tether point that people have trouble wrapping their heads around.
Accepting it not only expands your consciousness but the potential for you to fully step into the power of what it means to be human beyond the man-made definitions of what power means.
This means that you look beyond the programming of any type of authority that's not questioned and manipulates us to believe something enough to create a limited reality.
It means having the balls to map your own atlas into the unknown.
It means walking out of the worn-out lobby of the theater to the world of the unknown.
It means looking inward to where we play the game of controller and follower.
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It means being willing to dismiss allowing anyone or anything to have dominioin over you so that your integrity can be fully exercised rather than dictated.
I guarantee you that every single human, whether they're aware of it or not, no matter how rich or poor, or achieved or emerging, have these unnatural elements that live inside of us that affect our thoughts, mindset, and behavior.
In my nearly 6 decades on this earth, I have never met a stupid human unable to handle this...or a human who has not experienced a prolong pause...a dark night of the soul.
Not in sheltered workplaces for the developmentally disabled, psychiatric wards, jails, or in corporate America.
Everyone is gifted and incredibly resilient.
I have, however, not met one human who was not imprisoned or throttled to be less than they were designed to be implants.
These implants can be best described by the saying, "Well, that's just the way things are."
These points of reflection will release the power of the pause so that you can help others do the same.
Characteristics of Implants
I have a saying that most of us operate at a pain level of 10 but because that's so pervasive, we think it's normal. No one feels it.
That is not the normal state of being a human.
In a pause or an excessively grueling test, look at the situation with the below prompts and wait for the gut feeling of being dominated and forced to see which trigger has been initiated.
The story in the self-talk about what these prompts awaken are the clues for the shadow work to unwind them from a consciousness perspective rather than solely psychological or emotional.
That gut feeling and your honesty about it reflect two sides of a coin: Who has hijacked your power and why have we all allowed it?
Controller - feelings of being
Follower - feelings of being
Pressing Play
Unlike some coaches and advisors out there, I don't believe there is ever a wrong answer.
The same type of logic applies to doing shadow work.
Whether you decide to do something about an issue (or not) for whatever realization you come to is entirely up to you.
Being responsible about your decision is owning your conscious awareness of it...and being ok with it, without judgement or shame.
That removes the self-imposed prison most people live in because you can't deny the choices you've made when all the cards are on the table.
So, consider these questions depending on which side of the coin you got more tick marks.
I give you permission to spend some time with this.
Controller:
Follower:
Facing the fear of the mechanisms that appear to control our actual survival in modern society involves taking back our power that we've outsourced because it was the only way to function.
It's rarely about the financial system crashing or society dissolving but an uncertainty and lack of trust of what we are capable when social constructs are removed.
That takes your power back from what the implants want from you without having to experience the death of society: Continued angst and self-loathing on deep subconscious and spiritual levels.
That presses the Play button and empowers you in the Power of the Pause.
And, you are powerful enough to press that button.
#MindsetReset #UnfilteredJoy #Responsibility #ShadowWork #Pause #Challenges #Tests #SelfAwareness #SelfSufficiency
I help people reset to their true north. Like a compass, only minor recalibrations are needed to shift from the prescribed magnetic north to your true north. It's all about where you stand in your Perspective | Purpose | Perception