RE-EXAMINE. EXHALE. RE-EMERGE

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RE-EXAMINE. EXHALE. RE-EMERGE - Kimz Pondosities™

Last month, I thought I knew exactly where I was going next.

Actually, I was pretty certain.

I had already mapped out the next eleven months of writing, with each month

carrying its own direction and focus. Then, a few days ago, I began to reconsider.

I prayed about whether it might be time for a shift and eventually realized that I

needed to take some of my own advice.

When I work with my younger clients and mentees—some I have coached, some I

have mentored, some I have mentored and then coached, and some who, over time,

have simply become family—I have repeated one little phrase more times than I could

possibly count:

When in doubt, don’t.

Lately, I find myself saying the same thing just as often to executives, leaders, and

people much further along in life, because doubt is not always a sign that something

is wrong; at times, it is simply an invitation to pause.

If you don’t have peace about moving forward, don’t force yourself forward simply

because you had a plan.

Pause.

Listen.

Wait.

The irony, of course, is that giving good advice can be far easier than following my

own.

So, finally, I am.

I am paying attention to the still, small voice; my intuition; my second brain—my

gut—and even the people who love me enough to notice what I sometimes miss. I

simply needed to become still enough to hear.

The more I considered it, the more I realized that the seeds of this month’s

Pondosity™ were actually planted in last month’s.

Last month, we explored Reinforce & Refine.

We talked about timing—about how something can be completely right while the

timing can still be wrong.

And, if you remember, I recently wrote about my fabulous gift for timing...

NOT!

I even wrote:

“So I didn’t force it.”

Instead of continuing to push, prod, and bang away at that proverbial square peg into

a round hole with a sledgehammer, I let it rest.

Most probably, I needed to hear those words again myself.

Through every season of our lives, there will be things that need to be reinforced and

others that need to be refined. At times, refinement requires only a small adjustment;

at others, it asks us to reconsider the very direction we were certain we were

headed.

So this month, I have chosen to go one layer deeper.

I am making a pivot—not because the original plan was wrong, not because I have

failed, and certainly not because I am abandoning the eleven months I had already

envisioned.

I am simply taking a sidestep: a redirection, a detour for a moment.

Maybe for many moments.

Could perseverance be a form of faithfulness?

Does faithfulness ever look like releasing the very thing we were once determined to

carry?

That is a tension worth pondering, isn’t it?

I am a woman of prayer and meditation, and during my prayer and meditation time, I

found myself taking a deep breath and asking:

How can I best serve each person who reads my Pondosities™?

How can I best serve the people I care about in my everyday life?

What would serving them well actually look like right now?

I kept returning to something I deeply believe: most of the time, the best way I know

to serve is to lead by example.

As The Possibility Catalyst™ and an Integrative Transformational Coach, I regularly

ask others to practice something I apparently needed to practice more intentionally

myself:

The pause.

P&C’s.

Pause and Contemplate.

Pause and Center.

Pause and Commit.

These are the moments when, instead of automatically moving toward whatever

comes next, we stop long enough to notice what is happening within us—to listen,

reassess, reconsider, discern, and breathe.

Lately, I have realized that while encouraging others to create space, I have quietly

filled nearly every available space of my own.

Do any of you do that too?

One more responsibility, one more promise, one more meaningful thing, one more

person you care about, one more thing you genuinely want to accomplish...until,

without quite noticing when it happened, very little space remains simply to be.

Then overwhelm sets in, and our sense of balance can begin to be compromised.

So I am taking my own advice.

I am practicing the pause—not quitting, not retreating, simply pausing.

In my practice, when I guide someone through grounded breathing or a visualization,

I often ask them to place their hands comfortably on their thighs or in their lap,

palms open and facing upward.

There is intention in that posture: with open hands, we can release what does not

serve us, while those very same open hands allow us to receive what does.

I keep coming back to that image right now.

Open hands.

Release.

Receive.

Exhale.

I have spoken about exhaling in different ways throughout these Pondosities™

because an exhale can represent so much more than the natural release that follows

an inhale.

We may suddenly recognize that we have been unconsciously holding our breath

because of fear, anxiety, uncertainty, or anticipation; then comes that deep exhale

when something within us recognizes:

I am safe.

I can let go.

There is physiology behind that exhale, too. Intentional breathing—particularly

slowing the breath and allowing ourselves a longer exhale—can help calm the

nervous system and move us away from a constant state of activation. As the body

begins to settle, we may find ourselves able to think more clearly, discern more

thoughtfully, and respond rather than simply react.

Perhaps that is one reason breath has become such an important part of my own

practice.

An exhale can also come through movement and exercise, as we strengthen our

breathing and the capacity of our lungs; yet there are moments when an exhale

becomes something much larger than breath itself.

It becomes a pause of permission:

Permission to reevaluate.

To reaffirm.

To reassess.

To reconsider.

To release.

To redirect.

That is the kind of exhale I am taking now.

Rather than immediately beginning the eleven-month series I had planned, I am

going to return, for a while, to the Pondosities™ we have already traveled through

together.

Last year, on my birthday, we began with Rebirth.

Last month, we arrived at Reinforce & Refine.

There has been a whole journey of RE between those two places.

During this next season, I am going back to read those Pondosities™ aloud.

I am calling it RE-Time—my version of story time.

This is not simply about repeating what has already been written; it is about

revisiting the Pondosities™ together from where we are now.

We are not going backward.

We are returning with new eyes.

As I read, I’ll invite you to pause with me—to ponder, reconsider, and notice what

may speak differently now than it did the first time. If you would like to spend more

time with a particular Pondosity™, you can always return to the written version on

my website (REVitNOW.com), revisit the questions, and write about them in your

journal.

Revisiting does not necessarily require something new. It may simply mean

unearthing something at a deeper level: returning to what we thought we already

understood and discovering what we simply could not see from where we were

standing before.

Perspective can shift as we do.

You might even choose a new journal specifically for this season.

Some of the original questions may return; new ones may emerge. You may hear

something entirely differently than you did the first time.

So might I.

Write down what resonates. Reflect on what catches your attention. Leave what does

not belong to you right now, and come back to something later if you need to.

There is no right way to ponder.

This isn’t homework.

It is an invitation—to excavate a bit more.

Those eleven months I had planned are still there, and when the timing is right, I

hope to begin the series that has been stirring in my heart for many months: a deeper

exploration and rediscovery.

The subject?

That will remain a surprise.

Before I begin it, however, there is some deeper work I personally desire to do—some

listening, some space-making, some releasing, some receiving, and some living of the

very things I so readily encourage in others.

Maybe Scripture has been whispering the invitation all along:

“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him…”

— Psalm 37:7

In many ways, that is exactly what happened.

I became still enough to listen.

I prayed.

I listened to the people who love me.

I gave myself permission to change the plan and, for once, to wait for the proper

timing. Apparently, old habits and anxious anticipation can die hard.

Beneath all of this is something I believe to the very core of who I am.

The RE Pondosities™ were inspired during my quiet time, and THE GOD whom I

revere—the Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is within this

extraordinary universe—is THE GOD of the do-over: THE GOD who gives us another

opportunity to turn around, begin again, and make a different choice.

As long as there is still breath in our lungs, I believe there is still an opportunity for

RE.

Another opportunity to see differently, choose differently, respond differently, and

begin again.

So this is not a departure from where I was going; it is simply part of getting there.

An opportunity to loosen my grip, turn my palms upward, release what no longer

needs to be held, and make room to receive what is waiting.

To re-examine.

To exhale.

And, when the timing is right...

To re-emerge

💜💜💜