“Pausing is not weakness. It is the bravest act of remembering who you are, giving yourself permission to be who you are, and returning to your place of peace and ease.”
We live in a world that glorifies busyness. Our calendars are full, our minds are racing, and our bodies often feel like they’re running on fumes. But what happens when we stop long enough to ask ourselves: How am I really doing?
When is the last time you paused to ask yourself this important question? This question is at the heart of this conversation I shared with my sister in purpose, Samantha Edu, founder of Brown Heart Wellness. Together, we discovered something beautiful: our separate callings to help women pause🔴 aligned so perfectly! We were determined to join our messages together to support one another and amplify our ability to reach women with this powerful message.
I’m hosting Sip from the Well: 10 Days of Pause (October 1–10). Samantha is hosting her Positioned to Pause Retreat in Atlanta on October 11. Two unique events, woven together, one ramping up and preparing your mind for the next, each reminding us that pausing is not a luxury, it’s a lifeline that starts the beginning of change.
In the above conversation Samantha and I had on Leading Through the Cracks, Samantha talked about the bravery needed to pause.
The Brave Work of Pausing
Samantha calls it the “one brave thing.” Sometimes the bravest thing you can do isn’t climbing the next mountain or chasing the next promotion. What if it’s in the pause 🔴.
“Taking a pause is the bravest thing that you can do,” she shared. “It’s active. It’s not just sitting still, it’s connecting to the kind of rest that reaches your soul.”
That kind of pause requires honesty. It deepens through transparency. It means answering the hard question: How are you doing, really?
🔴 Journal Prompt: What does bravery look like for you right now? Is it doing more, or could it be doing less?
Positioned for Purpose
Samantha and I explained that neither of us had planned our events to align, but here they were, side by side, creating a runway for women to step into new brave patterns of being.
We don’t always realize when we’re being positioned. Sometimes life pushes us. Through grief, through unexpected detours, through disappointments, can be positioned right into the very place we need to be so that purpose can thrive.
Samantha shared a powerful story of being caught in a crowd, overwhelmed and anxious, only to find herself at the very front of the line without even trying. That moment taught her that positioning isn’t always something we control.
Positioning is something we surrender to.
🔴 Journal Prompt: Where in your life do you feel you might be in a process of positioning?
Broken Pieces, Beautiful Wholeness
I couldn’t help but connect this conversation to the heartbeat of my Mosaic Life Substack. Broken pieces, when brought together, create beauty. Our lives are mosaics. We each have many pieces of us that represent different aspects of who we are, different seasons of life. We have pieces of motherhood, work, grief, trauma, healing, joy, and longing.
Sometime, we bury our pieces due to shame, embarrassment, deep grief, or disappointment. When we do that, we block the ability to nurture and bring healing into those spaces. In the pause 🔴, we give ourselves space to give those pieces the care they need.
“I love broken things,” I shared with Samantha.
Because brokenness doesn’t disqualify you.
It qualifies you to be authentically who you are.
Every piece of you matters and is worthy of care.
Brokenness allows the masterpiece you are to shine through.
🔴 Journal Prompt: What “broken piece” in your life might actually hold beauty or purpose if you pause long enough to see it? What brokenness do you need to address in the pause so it doesn’t derail you in your purpose?
The Power of Pivoting
Samantha and I also spoke about the power of pivoting. Choosing not to be loyal to grief, disappointment, or the life we thought we were supposed to live. I shared the story of my very first 10/10 event, birthed out of deep grief but transformed into a gathering to speak like, wholeness, and purpose into the lives of women.
Pausing makes room for pivots.
It allows you to release what you thought life would
look like so you can embrace what is actually meant for you.
🔴 Journal Prompt: Where in your life might a pause help you pivot toward something new?
A Divine Alignment
Here’s the part that still amazes us: my 10 Days of Pause ends on October 10, and Samantha’s Positioned to Pause Retreat begins on October 11. We didn’t plan it that way. Only God could have aligned two women, in two different spaces, to create back-to-back experiences for women who are ready to step into freedom.
This is not just about events. This is about you. Your heart. Your healing. Your wholeness.
Join Us
🔴 Sip from the Well: 10 Days of Pause
October 1–10 (Free online challenge)
Daily emails, videos, journal prompts, and a live session on 10/10.
Register HERE
🔴 Positioned to Pause Retreat
October 11 in Atlanta, GA
A three-hour immersive retreat to rest, reset, and rise.
Register HERE
Two invitations. One message: You deserve the PAUSE🔴.
See you in the challenge!
Dr. Nic 🔴
