Forced Breaks are Just Fabulous
What becomes possible, often only comes from the unexpected
Look, I really don’t know how this whole life thing works.
But I do know this: everything that happens tends to lead to something better.
That understanding came from a forced break, six months where everything slowed down because my mind could not do entrepreneurship and being present with my family and I had to ask myself, what do I actually want at this point in my life?
After losing my sounding board business and cheerleading buddy when she decided she wanted something else too, and after my son got sick and lost momentum with my best laid plans, my brain had to be fully present to then make choices that set us up long term in totally different matters.
That pause? Felt completely like it was time to burn everything to the ground.
What I discovered was what really mattered to me…
Ease. Grace. Fun. Love. Money.
And what I had been chasing that wasn’t actually important…
Substack subscribers.
Viral Instagram reels.
Online business fame.
Proving I could write as a slight dyslexic.
Doing better than that person who said I couldn’t.
Another course to deliver more, be more and disassociate from being just a ‘teacher’.
Even being the “best mum,” I had to rethink, because I do not have infinite patience when ‘hair teeth and face are required twice a day and I have to repeat them. See relationships with others require two people and I can’t force the other to comply, even if it is simple hygiene and self care essentials.and I am allowed to be pissed having to be the frontal lobe for such basics.
All that being said, what I was really aspiring for was more ease in life, grace to accept what comes, fun because why does everything have to be serious, love because joy matters, and money because, in reality, it makes living a life with ease, grace, and fun possible.
So I realised this required a new way to receive money and I got specific. I put it out there. I asked for a job earning $45 an hour for half a week, something fun I could self-direct. An Art Showcase Manager role showed up, and I knew I had manifested it because the numbers matched, the audience matched, the fun matched, and I hadn’t dictated how it would be delivered. Then I started to think I’d like to earn more per hour. My time is worth it. I am worth it.
Then the universe showed up, again.
Three friends mentioned ways I could double the income by temping in my old job, relief teaching, while still having time to do other things I love. People shared how they had found grace staying in the education system. None of this was prompted.
So I let go of that first idea, it doubled the time I needed to spend focused on delivering my time for half the pay, and sent my teaching credentials into the temp pool with values driven education. I didn’t know how school drop-offs and pick-ups would work at my son’s new school, but I applied anyway. I just knew it would.
Then, as if on cue, I got an email: the library was open an hour before and after school.
Puzzle solved.
Sometimes, you don’t need the whole picture. The how shows up when you take action.
I still interviewed for the first job and finally after 2 weeks was second choice, but the process reminded me that there’s always choice available.
Looking back, if I hadn’t had that forced break from all the momentum I had last year, podcasts, social media, digital products, AI experiments, managing lipoedema, big family decisions, illnesses and the stories I had onviarded about how important they all were ( such BS) I wouldn’t have had the time to realise fun matters too, and made the choices I made.
I wouldn’t have enrolled in a Masters of Counselling to align with a professional body and once and for all leave education.
I wouldn’t have discovered body mapping and body wisdom leading to some deep off loading of stories and beliefs that kept me feeling the pressure in teaching.
I wouldn’t have started my son at a school that actually matched our values and has vast opportunities for him.
That break required presence.
Deep trust that everything is always working out for me. Not fixing. Not forcing. Just responding to what is, without getting stuck on an outcome or the stories I had about what I needed to do. I was willing to give two fingers to my business and the demands it placed on me too. To rebuild again.
And here’s the interesting thing: when you’re on the right path, the signs show up. My son’s school released its theme ‘ FULL OF GRACE.” serious goose bumps moment.
And after years of rejecting the education system, I opted back in but this time on my terms, clear for the purpose and how I could navigate it, 2 days a week in a values based environment, and still keep doing my own thing.
Again I am on a forced break, awaiting paperwork and a small conversation just today has lead to clarity and focus on where to take the mindset in mayhem body of work, because as I’ve created it, I’ve become clearer where I work best and where I want to go. And not appeasing algorithms.
Once we relocate to the new home (two months left of the build and paperwork) I will begin that path to really embed what I do by adding teaching a weekly curvy yoga class to my calendar, but with new energy and no pressure to appease others and I am putting it out there, no rent to pay on a space.
This is a reminder I need to learn to rest, not give up.
Everything works out for you, if you believe it will.