Have You Taken a Pause That Changed Everything?
Life doesn’t slow down just because you want it to.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
Let’s be honest.
Life doesn’t slow down just because you want it to.
For years, I was racing. Twelve-hour days. Screens lighting my face. Chasing the next deal, the next project, the next “win.”
I thought that’s what success looked like.
But at some point… I realized I wasn’t living. I was hustling.
Then life made me stop.
Stage 1: You feel the shift coming, but don’t know how to pause.
For me, it was a hurricane. Hurricane Helene. We had to evacuate. Nature itself paused.
And suddenly… I heard it. That quiet whisper I’d been ignoring:
“What if you stopped?”
Not just for a moment. But deeply.
I had spent years defining myself by performance. By output. By doing.
But in that pause, I realized how empty all the chasing had become.
Stage 2: You try to pause, but old habits scream.
During evacuation, a friend offered me a trading project. My reflex said yes. My people-pleaser said yes.
But my heart whispered: no.
For the first time, I actually listened. Saying no wasn’t rejecting opportunity — it was reclaiming sanity.
That was the first sacred pause I ever took.
Stage 3: You’re ready to make the pause your practice.
After that, I began experimenting. Sometimes just three minutes a day. Breathing. Sitting. Listening.
Writing. Healing. Healing through writing.
And something shifted. My life reorganized itself.
I discovered: peace doesn’t come from controlling life. It comes from being fully present. It comes from uncovering layers of conditioned habits, one at a time.
Prayer is speaking. Meditation is listening. Why not do both?
Creation becomes a conversation — a two-way flow.
The Antidote to Hustle
Every morning, I ask myself:
“What is one thing that is sacred to me today?”
It rewired my life. Turned productivity into purpose. Made peace my portfolio.
I work differently now. I show up differently. I serve from overflow instead of stress.
Your turn
Pause isn’t about stopping the world. It’s about finding your center inside it.
Take a moment today. Breathe. Ask:
What is one thing that is sacred to me today? How can I honor or protect it?
Hold it. Breathe into it. Let it guide your actions today.
If this resonates… know you’re not alone.
We’re building a space called Shift Your Identity for people who want to live from peace, not pressure; from purpose, not hustle.
It’s where we explore, reflect, and support each other in creating lives that align with our deepest truth.
Because peace isn’t a luxury. It’s your birthright. And the pause? That’s how you reclaim it.
With alignment,
Cristof