The Moment in the Middle

I still remember that winter evening in London. There were grey skies, hurried footsteps on wet pavements, and my heart beating faster than the city itself. I was preparing for one of the most anticipated debate competitions at LSE. You know, the kind where everyone is buzzing with excitement, nerves, and expectations. For weeks, it had been the talk of seminar corridors and group chats. And I? I was caught in the thick of it. Completely nervous, determined, and honestly, a little overwhelmed.

There were meetings to coordinate with my team, slides to design, arguments to polish, and an unshakable pressure to get it right. I wanted to give it my all, but also if I’m being real, I just wanted it to be over. The whole thing had started to feel like a ticking clock I was trying to outrun.

One late afternoon, while working on my notes, I found myself at the Costa near campus. It was cold outside, the kind that numbs your fingers and makes you hug your coat tighter. I ordered a hot chocolate, because why not? and sat down with my laptop, neck-deep in research. At some point, I paused, almost accidentally, and looked up.

Outside the window, the world was in motion. People laughing, wind ruffling coats, the warm glow of streetlights flickering on. And inside, I was wrapped in the quiet warmth of that tiny moment. I realised that I was doing something that scared me. I was stepping way out of my comfort zone, learning, growing, putting my voice forward. And somewhere in the middle of all that chaos… I was also living.

That pause, that unplanned slowness, made me see the beauty of it all. Not just the debate or the end result but the process. The late-night drafts, the team discussions that turned into deep conversations, the butterflies before speaking, and yes, that hot chocolate that felt like a hug.

We spend so much of our lives rushing to finish things, to get to the next milestone. But sometimes, the real magic isn’t in the result. It’s in the middle. In the doing, in the becoming, in the quiet, unnoticed pauses.

That one moment in Costa taught me about slowing down. That slowness, that stillness, it wasn’t a break. It was the point.

Because here’s the thing, we’re always in a rush, aren’t we?

Rushing to get things done, to check the next box, to move on to the “next big thing.” Whether it’s getting into a university, finishing a degree, landing a job, or even planning what comes after the weekend. Our minds are already five steps ahead. We live like we are late to our own lives.

We want speed. We crave it. Fast success, fast decisions, fast results. But somewhere along the way, we miss the quiet wonder of the in-betweens.

And honestly, the in-betweens are where the magic is happening.

We’ve all had a slice of that, somewhere. Maybe on alate-night drive, maybe while walking home listening to our favourite playlist, maybe during a random conversation that made us forget time. Those in-between moments rarely make it to our Instagram stories, but they stay with us in a quieter way. They ground us.

I think we’re all just trying to make something of ourselves but sometimes, it's okay to not be somewhere. To not do something productive. To simply feel. To let life unfold, one small scene at a time.

So the next time you're rushing through your day, your degree, your dreams, maybe pause. Sip that hot chocolate slowly. Glance outside the window. Let the transition teach you something.

You’re not behind. You’re just becoming.