Daily Times

In an era of you snooze you lose a word, pause makes us feel fearful, hopeless, frightful, and downhearted. People feel terrified to pause and take a break by thinking that others might take their place and they will be left behind. But a question pops up here does it in reality mean halting, stopping an end of the journey of struggle or affair failure?

To understand it and to find out whether it’s an end or a phase of metamorphosis to reset again, I would love to quote Christine Armstrong here, a women’s cyclist, trialist in sports, and three-time Olympic gold medalist, who says “It’s not only moving that creates new starting points. Sometimes all it takes is a subtle shift in perspective, an opening of the mind an intentional pause and reset, or a new route to start to see new options and new possibilities”.

We all have a burning desire in us to achieve something, to get somewhere, to grab something. In this challenging and testing struggle; the paths toward destiny are not always smooth and unobstructed, we fall, shattered, alas! At this point, our mind stops to look deeper for solutions, For the lesson to learn and we sit back and stop.

In a haste to reach our goal, we forget to look into the surroundings.

In a haste to reach our goal, we forget to look into the surroundings, into vast nature, of which each tiny little thing holds a message for us. Let’s take the example of an ethereal and fluttering butterfly That goes through 4 stages of metamorphosis to become a stunning colorful butterfly from a tiny-looking insect caterpillar. There is another beautiful example of pause and restart in which Howard Thurman; an author, philosopher, educator, and civil rights leader, in his simple and exclusive words tries to convey the idea of understanding the concept of pause and restart, he states “Twilight- A time of pause When nature changes her guard, all living things would Fade and die from too much light or too much dark if twilight were not”.

Here Twilight Does not only signify the pause in transition but also teaches us that even amid darkness, there is always a glimmer of light, of hope. It shows us the importance of embracing change.

Moreover, we all undoubtedly cherish and adore the spring season; A time of renewal and rejuvenation, where we enjoy the blooming of flowers, the chirping of birds, vibrant colors, and fragrant blossoms. Apart from taking pleasure in the season, there is another important thing to do; That is to look back and observe how the season changed, how the dry Yet colorful leaves fall from trees in autumn making a magical carpet of red, orange, and yellow hues covering the Earth, the cozy atmosphere and satisfying crunch under our feet. Then comes winter season a season that brings unique charm and a touch of magic. The air turns crisp and chilly. Snowflakes delicately fall from the Sky, transforming the world into winter Wonderland. Everything seems to glisten under a blanket of snow.

We can see how the majestic and serene nature goes through transition and captivates our hearts with its incredible wonders moving ahead, we can see how apparent and the visible cycle of pausing and resetting provided by nature, moving ahead, as a writer, I would love to jot down about a pause in the sector of creativity, that is what we call “writer’s block”, it’s a pause in the creative process, a moment where ideas may temporarily slow down. According to writing expert Mike Ross (2006), writer’s block can be defined as “The inability to begin or continue writing for reasons other than a lack of basic skill or commitment”.

There are varying views of philosophers and writers about this pause. Like Terry Pratchett says “There is no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write. Charles Bukowski goes precisely and says” Writing about writer’s block is better than not writing about it’ ‘In contrast, Malcolm Gladwell looks at writer’s block differently by saying “I deal with writer’s block by lowering my expectations. I think the trouble starts when you sit down to write and imagine that you will achieve something magical and magnificent and when you don’t, panic sets in. The Solution is never to sit down and imagine that you will achieve something magical and munificent. I write a little bit, almost every day and if it results in 2 or 3 or on a good day four good paragraphs, I consider myself a lucky man. Never try to be the hare. All hail the tortoise”. Causes for this could be either psychological or neurological, it could be a challenging and frustrating phase but the thing to acknowledge here is that it can also serve as a pause and reset for writers, it allows the writer to take a step back and re-evaluate their ideas and find fresh inspiration, although it can be seen as a temporary obstacle, writer’s block can ultimately lead to renewed creativity and stronger writing process.

Nowadays science has made our lives easier by not only inventing new things but by providing us with facts as well. Let’s dive into studies and research what they say about pause or a break. Many studies have found that pausing or taking a break helps boost productivity and achieve success and a positive outlook for the future. In contrast, not taking breaks can not only deteriorate our health but lead to psychological problems and other health concerns like anxiety insomnia, and depression.

In a blog of online organization.com; an American educational platform, different researchers have mentioned the significance of taking a break. In the blog research was mentioned that was conducted to explore the effect of overlearning on the brain by researchers from the University of Florida and the University of California, San Diego two groups were asked to study the same vocabulary test. One group read through the list five times the other group read at least 10 times. The initial result demonstrated that over-learning was an effective short-term strategy. However, researchers recorded some surprising results when the students were retested on the vocabulary some students from both groups were retested exactly one week later. learners still scored better but students from both groups were retested exactly 4 weeks later there was little difference in scores between the members of either group. The Finding suggested that over-learning was not an effective strategy for long-term retention of information.

From nature to scientific research and studies, this is evident that taking a pause should not be taken at the verge of mental or emotional breakdown, it is something our body and mind need. But here it is important to look into that there is a difference between an effective pause and a useless pause. Let’s say in the phase of pausing if we are wasting time on social media scrolling, texting, or lying on the bed acting like the least bothered human being on Earth then instead of boosting productivity and protecting ourselves from health concerns we will encapsulate ourselves in the cluster of issues spending for mental to health.

To take an effective break it is essential to utilize that time. Effectively and productively. Like exercise, which is crucial for both mind and body, a study from Princeton University has found that people who exercise form more neurons that emit a neurotransmitter known as GABA which calms the brain and reduces overall anxiety. In addition, meditation is another impactful tool that lowers anxiety and boosts personal health moreover, reading good books will help to reduce anxiety and overthinking by keeping our mind busy, it will also help to alleviate motivation to do something and to achieve something. There are various other ways to make the breaks and post-effective all you need is to take some time to breathe to take a power nap mediate our body and mind will surely thank us for it.

The writer is a freelance columnist.