Stop and smell the… just stop, take a breath, close your eyes, give yourself a minute, or just count to five.

I like to do lists, I get excited when I have stuff to do and I get way into making things super organised and “perfect”. I tend to get into a cycle where I start doing one thing, get distracted and start doing something else, try to make that better, then find something else to organise. Basically I often find myself being followed by a trail of half finished, semi looked over tasks and never at the perfectly organised state I want it to be. So inevitably I get to the point where all I want to do is sulk, stomp and grab my iphone and play an utterly useless game.

Last month I got to spend a lot of time with my older sister and her two little boys. They were one of my sources of happiness, whenever I was around them I got a energy boost, and gosh darnit, just look at them, wouldn’t you? I was just hanging out with them one day when all of a sudden two (almost three) year old Jacob cocks his head at his three month old little brother Matt and just stares at him smiling. They had this precious moment where they just stared at each other and I found myself brimming with pride. 

My little nephews reminded me to take time out, to take a breath, enjoy the moment and just be. I have a very short attention span, so when the little boys looked so darling together it just reminded me how precious time is. I yearn to be busy, then find myself in a flurry because I have “too much”, but in reality I just expect too much from myself that I forget to breathe and enjoy what I’m doing. 

Whenever I randomly see this photo, I smile silently to myself and try to remind myself to enjoy the moment, no matter what it is. And when stress levels start to rise (even just a little), I close my eyes and take a breath, because nothing is so important that it can’t wait five seconds.

What do you do to take a break?