Different seasons have rhythms. Others may be slow or uncertain, where instead of a clear change, there are only small shifts…spaces where you may not always even be sure what the season is trying to show you.
However, much like physical seasons such as autumn or winter have markers of gradual change that we cannot always understand in real time, perhaps the same is true for us, as we navigate seasons of change in our own lives.
A mindful pace doesn’t have to look like feeling sure or feeling organized every day. Instead, it can be the brief moment that helps you stay steady in those quiet, in-between times when you can finally notice what you need right now.
It might not always feel clear in the moment, but it’s in spaces like this where you can start to realize that you have been pacing yourself through the seasons, learning your way through whatever this time is revealing, one day at a time. Every time you pause, or even feel the wish to pause to think, to rest, or just exist for a moment, is a small act of noticing yourself.
This is the mindful pace you are likely already beginning to build without even realizing it: the ability to sense where there might be limits and respond to them with awareness of what you can do right here, even as you hold the reality of what’s ahead. In other words, the small, simple, easy-to-overlook moments where you have paused long enough to notice what you actually need matter more than you know.
Even when the season feels uncertain, pausing long enough to notice what you need is a meaningful act. An act of slowing down that helps you recognize rhythms of where you are and what this time is asking of you, even here. – Morgan Harper Nichols
