Finding the Pause Button

I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person. I don't get stumped by too many basic problems in life. So, this 'challenge' that I've been dealing with is a little bit embarrassing.

I bought a digital voice recorder about 2 years ago. It seems that my writing ideas come in spurts. I'll sometimes have 20 ideas in a row. Then, I might not have any ideas for a week or so. If I don't somehow 'capture' these ideas, they are often totally gone. Poof. They disappear and sometimes I never get them back!

My digital voice recorder is always in my purse. I can pull it out and record my ideas at any time. It relieves a lot of stress over my ability to remember things!

I read the user's manual when I got the recorder. I learned the basic functionality, or so I thought. I've used this recorder a lot over the past two years.

In the home burglary that I experienced last year, the user's manual was among the contents of a box that was stolen.

Each time I've used this recorder, I have been able to easily turn it on (or off), start a recording and stop a recording. It was obvious how to do those things.

The one thing I could never figure out was how to 'pause' a recording. There was no pause button. You know the standard pause button design - two vertical lines || right? There is no such button on my recorder.

It has been a little frustrating, because sometimes I have an idea every few minutes, especially when driving! I end up hitting 'record' and then 'stop' over and over again. This yields a lot of very short, individual files that I need to work with!

I would rather start a recording, say a few things... pause... restart and add to the existing recording. Yet, each time I examined the recorder, I couldn't find the PAUSE button!

I had just accepted that I had to record each idea or spurt of ideas into separate files. Annoying, but manageable.

This weekend I was on a long drive and I was using my digital recorder the way I usually do, coming up with writing and speaking topics. At one point I had started a recording, and when I was finished, I tried to hit the STOP button, but hit the 'RECORD' button by accident. To my amazement, the screen started flashing "PAUSE RECORD."

I had accidentally figured out how to PAUSE my digital recorder! It was so simple! It was so obvious! Yet, for 2 years (I'm blushing) I hadn't discovered this 'obvious secret!'

It is sort of amusing actually. Given my personality and my past patterns and issues, I have a lot of trouble 'pausing' when it comes to my level of activity! I'm always on the go! I've had to train myself to pause. It is really interesting that I wouldn't be able to FIND the PAUSE button on my recording device.

I'm choosing to take it as a reminder that I need to pause occasionally in my life and my activities. It is important to have 'down time.' It is important to pause sometimes before reacting to things.

I had come to believe that it was impossible to pause my digital recorder! My little digital recorder is reminding me that it is POSSIBLE to PAUSE.

Do you know where your pause button is? If you're having trouble finding it, just remember that it IS THERE somewhere!!