The Mindfulness Blog

Credit to the creative writer who came up with the phrase cited in the title to this piece, and credit to Simone Biles for saying the words out loud-- they're both authentic and real!

By placing the notion of "pause" in equipoise with the notion of "power", the phrase suggests that two concepts are equal, not merely similar. "Equal", as in the same. "Equal", as in identical. "Equal", as in one is the other.

As simplistic as it may seem, I believe that "pause" really is "power", and it's important to understand why-- for all of us, but especially for lawyers. Why? Because the vast majority of lawyers don't get it, and they really need to; they really should.

Way too many of us reflexively associate the notion of "pause" with weakness or equivocation, rather than strength and wisdom-- and that's unfortunate. A moment of "pause" is a moment of consideration (maybe, even reconsideration) based upon information (maybe, even new information). A moment of "pause" is not a moment of indecision or uncertainty.

Austrian psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl, once observed that between stimulus and response, there is a space-- and in that space (however infinitesimal it may be), we can choose to respond rather than react. That's the power of pause (for some of us, the power of mindfulness and meditation).

In the context of the cited advertisement, the concepts of "pause" and "power" are relevant to the physical power to perform. In the context of this piece, the concepts of "pause" and "power" are relevant to the power of the mind to stop-- to look before it leaps, so to speak.

As one of my favorite meditation teachers, Sharon Salzburg, put it: Being mindful or practicing meditation, doesn't mean we don't disagree or argue-- or even fight. It just means we don't hate. Kind of like the so-called "good old days", when people could disagree, without being disagreeable.

"Pause" and "power" are both critical to our performance, and performance (what we do) is what makes the world go around-- particularly, the commercial world.

Let's make time and space to pause and empower ourselves to perform as effectively as we possibly can!