the day i stopped trying to figure it all out

There was a moment not too long ago where I just stopped.

Not because I had it all figured out. Actually the opposite. I stopped because I realized that all the figuring out I had been doing was exhausting me and getting me exactly nowhere.

And somewhere in that stillness, something shifted. Like God had been waiting for me to get quiet long enough to finally hear it.

Here is what I know after 25 years of showing up for people in every kind of room -- hospitals, corporate offices, school hallways, coaching sessions:

The people who are the most stuck are almost never stuck because they lack information. They are stuck because they are so busy trying to figure everything out that they never actually stop long enough to hear themselves think. Or to hear something greater than themselves trying to get through.

We do this at every age.

The teenager who spends three hours overthinking a text message before hitting send. The young adult who has seventeen browser tabs open researching every possible career path and cannot commit to a single one. The parent who lies awake running through every conversation they had with their kid that day wondering what they missed.

All of us. Spinning. Figuring. Exhausting ourselves with the trying.

What if the answer was not more figuring out?

What if it was a pause?

Not forever. Not giving up. Just long enough to get quiet enough to actually hear what you already know. What your intuition has been trying to tell you. What God has been whispering underneath all the noise.

Because here is the thing I have learned both personally and professionally -- you already know more than you think you do. You already have more clarity than you are giving yourself credit for. You just cannot hear it over the noise of all that figuring out.

There is a reason every spiritual tradition in the world points to stillness. To the pause. To the moment of surrender where you stop white knuckling the outcome and trust that something bigger than your to-do list is also at work here.

That is not weakness. That is wisdom.

The day I stopped trying to figure it all out was the day I finally started moving forward. Not because I had all the answers. But because I got quiet enough to take one aligned next step instead of ten frantic ones.

That is what Permission to Pause is built on. Not slowing down as a luxury. Slowing down as a strategy. And sometimes, as an act of faith.

Try it today. Just for ten minutes. Put down the tabs, the lists, the what ifs.

Get still. Get quiet. And trust that what you need to hear is already there waiting for you.

You might be surprised what comes through.

If you are ready to stop spinning and start moving forward, I am here.

Free 2-minute quiz: What's Actually Holding You Back?
Work with me: carinrassier.com/workwithme

I help teens and young adults ages 16-22 find their footing when everything feels like too much.