Dare to Press "Play"

Last night I was reading an exerpt from Roger Ebert's autobiography on his 20 year marriage to Chaz Hammelsmith Ebert.  It is a really a great love story and I enjoyed reading about their vacations to Venice in the winter, as well as her continued love and support towards him during his cancer treatment. But something else he said stuck with me: meeting his wife gave him the ability to move forward, as he had been in a state of "pause" for too long.

Wow.

It got me thinking - how many of us are living in a state of "pause?" Maybe we were moving forward at one time, and then for whatever reason, we have stopped and have been standing still for far too long.  Maybe we feel stuck, and bound by circumstances or other's opinions of where we should be. Maybe it's a fear of change. Whatever the reason, we are in this state of "pause" with a need to press "play" and keep moving forward.

I know for myself, there have been times when I have pressed the "pause" button and sat.  I have done it in relationships and in jobs. I have found myself stuck, knowing I wanted to go, needed a change, but something has kept me in the same spot. Sometimes it is simply a matter of figuring out how to press the "play" button that keeps us from moving on.

As I contemplate today where I am sitting in "pause," I would encourage you to do the same.  And then, visualize what life would look like if you dared to press "play."  Think about it, daydream about it, fantasize about it. That's a start. Because really, there is nothing good about living in a state of "pause" except to finally dare to press "play" and take off towards what is next.  That's when things get exciting.