Trust Your Breaks

A wise friend, Linda Sivertsen, once told me, “Trust your breaks.”

I’ve relied on this advice for years.

So much of our lives revolves around accomplishing our goals. We’re buried under endless task lists. Everyone is “busy,” and calendar management requires a college degree. Making time for moments that inspire us is an art form.

Nine years ago this week, my father passed away. Losing a parent is a rite of passage, a moment that defines us all.

Time with my father in those final weeks of his life transformed mine. As one of his caretakers, I was there to witness a man facing the end of his life. His rough exterior softened. He was open and focused on sharing his inner feelings before he passed.

Sitting at his feet one night, he told me, “It went so fast.”

“What did, Dad?”

“Life. It went so fast.”

The impact of his words was visceral. Through the experience of walking him to the other side of life, so many things in my world became clear. The ache I had to write became a calling. As his life ended, I realized I had to commit to my lifelong dream of publishing a book. Why? Because life moves quickly. My father’s final piece of advice.

Loss can have that effect, slicing your life into two distinct parts: then and now. My commitment to publishing my book became unwavering when I lost my father and absorbed his wisdom. Nine years later, Both Sides of Then was published.

You will likely start your week with a long list of things to accomplish, and you may not get to all of them. And if you don’t, so what? Life isn’t just about completing tasks; it’s about learning the art of stepping away.

Rather than focusing your day on conquering an endless list, where have you given allotted yourself breaks? Have you carved out time for moments of reflection or connection?

Time is slippery. It moves quickly in its invisible form, reminding us that if we set too high expectations for it, we risk missing the essence of its existence entirely. Sometimes, setting aside the to-do list is the best way to move toward our goals. In the quiet, there is clarity.

Whether our breaks are self-imposed or thrust upon us, they exist to show us that in moments of stillness, we will find inspiration.

XO Jen