Pausing To Find Our Footing

This year feels like it is on speed, roaring forward at times at warp speed. The Year of the Fire Horse is proving to be no joke.

Yet, are we finding time to pause? To be present? To feel our own energy? Or are we simply absorbing the energy of others and the world around us?

At times, I’m sure it all blurs together, leaving us to wonder: What is theirs, and what is mine?

The Earth and all of its occupants are undergoing immense energetic change. It’s palpable. For many of us, it can feel as though something is breaking apart. Coping systems we once relied upon suddenly don’t work as well. People we once shared close relationships with no longer feel as connected. Things that once fit simply don’t anymore.

We are all shifting, and at times those shifts can cause relationships to change, strain, or fall away entirely. Many people are beginning to see the world through a different kaleidoscope lens, turning it slightly and realizing the picture they once knew has completely changed.

I’ve experienced this in my own life.

I had a close friendship suddenly fall apart. Three years ago, we were joined at the hip. Today, we don’t speak. Simply put, we are no longer on the same frequency.

I used to say, “If this career doesn’t work, I can always go back to real estate.” I don’t say that anymore. In fact, I know deeply that I cannot return to that line of work. That door has closed.

I also used to have very firm opinions about how everything worked, opinions I believed were grounded and certain. Most of those opinions have quietly walked right out of my life. Instead of allowing my head to run the show 24/7, I lean more and more into my heart space. I am learning to feel instead of always needing to know.

All of this can leave us exhausted, fatigued, and confused. Add everything happening in our world, from the environment to politics to the constant barrage of information, and no wonder so many of us feel like dishrags wrung out and left hanging over the sink.

As we head into the final four months of 2026, I think it is more important than ever to be okay with slowing down.

No is a complete sentence.

Do not overcommit. Pull back where you can. Simplify, simplify, simplify.

We cannot see the way forward when we are constantly racing toward it, blindly hoping that if we can just make it to some imaginary finish line, then we can rest.

But there will never be a finish line.

There will always be someone or something asking for more. Another responsibility. Another expectation. Another notification. Another thing that supposedly needs our immediate attention.

The only person we can control is ourselves.

Everyone’s life is different. Some of us are carrying enormous loads and others lighter ones. Some of us have far more privilege, freedom, and resources than others. But regardless of our economic or social circumstances, there are moments when we can choose ourselves.

For one person, that might mean hours of luxurious free time. For another, it might be five minutes.

But how we choose to use those five minutes matters.

Do we spend them scrolling through other people’s lives, or do we sit quietly and listen to our own heartbeat? Watch the sunrise? Listen to birdsong?

Some of my most contented moments are incredibly ordinary. Five minutes outside in the morning, drinking my coffee without my phone. Just me, the steaming cup in my hands, my dog Daisy beside me, and the quiet peace that exists at the beginning of a new day.

Nothing around us appears to be slowing down anytime soon.

So perhaps the answer isn’t waiting for the world to slow down.

We have to find a way to slow ourselves down.