Once upon a time, we lived in a land of reading - with books as far as the eye could see. Mountains of adventures, rivers of mystery. Meadows of romance. And wide seas of creativity and imagination.

*sigh*

And then the alarm blares you out of your dream with a jerk and a pasty mouth, you brush out and shower off. And then tie tightened, keys off the counter-top and into your pocket, you stuff a stale bagel into your mouth as you bolt out the door for work.

Yep, time for reading can be hard to nail down.

The quiet solitude. A mental break from the here and now, a pause on reality.

Like doing reps in life, you need a pause. Grab a drink, wipe off the sweat, let the muscles relax and regroup. Turn a page or two. And then back to the dishes, and homework and dirty laundry. Store lists and Little League.

So with the new year, resolutions and goals and challenges, reflections are the rage.

Gym memberships that will be enthusiastically used in January will be shamefully “forgotten” in February. No time. The donuts come back. The fast food, just today because I am so busy…

But that is another struggle.

I am speaking about reading resolutions. Time for yourself.

Your breaks.

Your breathers and resters.

I am not an advocate for shutting out life. I am a realist knowing we cannot survive with sanity at a life sprint at all times.

There needs to be pauses.

One of my ways of pausing that helps me reset the most is reading.

Is it yours?

I know there was a time that I used it as a full escape. Video games, too. The unhealthy break that lasted from end of work to beginning of work. Where I had no life in between. But that was my struggle. Then.

Now I have so much life that a pause or two is needed. Here and there.

Reading? Yes.

Do I have other pause things? (Like puzzles, or board games, etc.)

Why yes! Many others.

And when things get hardest, those seem to jump ship (get squeezed out) the very first. Maybe when I need it most.

Is this you as well?

Maybe. I don’t know.

But I do believe, strongly, that we all need our pauses. For just the right balanced amount of time. For sanity. For survival.

For peace.

So after you sign up for your gym membership and clean out the fridge, weave in some pause time.

It may be the revitalization you need to keep up with your goals.

And just feel good about yourself.

Happy New Year, dear readers.

I wish you such joy and peace, now and always.