The problem with time is it seems to always be doing exactly the opposite of what we want. It flies when we are having fun, but slows to a crawl when we are not. There never seems to be enough hours in the day, yet it takes forever to heal the pain of our past. We rush to get everything done, but never give ourselves the time to enjoy what we have worked so hard to accomplish.
Why do we battle with time so much when time is all we really have?
We act as if life is something we are trying to get through. Each day moving along, checking off boxes to get things done as we work towards our next goal, to reach our next milestone. We squeeze things in by multitasking, we make a list to be efficient and ward off distractions. We might be exhausted at the end of the day but we feel good because of everything we were able to get done...right?
But what happens when we stop feeling good? When the boxes are all checked off and we’re absolutely burnt out, and we are not left feeling satisfied, fulfilled or happy.
We both have been here and things could not have been more confusing and annoying. And if we are being completely honest, we still struggle with it. On paper it looks like we have it all, and we can’t complain of our emotional imbalance because who wants to hear us complain? We feel frustrated that we’ve done everything by the book and hustled to get shit done, only to find we have strained relationships, anxiety that we are not enough, upset that we don't have more, and a fear of disappointing others.
So what is missing as we cram one thing in after another? The exact thing that we’ve been avoiding. A pause. Doing “nothing.” Taking a break. The space and time to just enjoy all that we have, as it is, right now.
And now that we recognize that, we are working on retraining, rewiring, and learning how to stop rushing around. It’s okay that we’re not always getting things done. We’re softening the expectation to meet other people’s needs before meeting our own. We have to let go of what we have been programmed to do our entire lives: always wanting more.
When we finally stop to pause, reflect, see how far we’ve come, we have more clarity to truly prioritize what is important. What fills us from within. The pause can be nearly impossible to find when you’ve been hustling your entire life. And the world we live in doesn’t send us any signs that it’s okay to stop.
It’s not only okay to stop and pause, it’s essential. It’s in the pause that you can receive a shift in perspective. To see things from a different angle. To prioritize your first steps in solving a problem. To filter out the noise and hear your own voice. To reflect. To appreciate. To enjoy the moment.
It’s not easy to find a pause when the inertia of life takes over. But that’s exactly what ming+ming does. Our classes are designed to give you that pause when you can’t seem to find the time to give yourself one. One hour a week makes a difference... pausing for 5 breaths make a difference.
To insert a pause into our lives takes rewiring. It requires starting something new which means doing it more than once. Even prioritizing a one hour pause into your weekly routine will result in benefits and we hope that will encourage you to find other creative ways to schedule in more pauses throughout your day.
The magic of the pause is when you realize that it’s the pause that actually gives you the ability to do more of what you truly want to do.
With love,
Ming-Wai + Ming-Cee
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