Breathe

Source

 

His chest heaved, labored, his face red.  He squirmed, trying to pry himself from the situation.  ‘Hey T we’re going to take 3 deep breaths… 1 {inhale, exhale}…2 {inhale, exhale}…stay with me buddy, one more 3 {inhale, exhale}.’  In and out, his chest rises and falls.  Easy rhythm.  Life goes on.

T is all boy, rambunctious, energy, and lover of water.  At 2 and a half, he needs to be reminded that one of the most basic functions sometimes needs thought.  He needs to remember that breathing puts things in perspective.

In the midst of sadness, I breathe. 

In the midst of anger, I breathe. 

In the midst of hope, I breathe.

I stop I breathe, and often pray, before moving into the situation. 

Breathing is supposed to be this non thinking, easy, does it by itself, function and yet, sometimes it’s not.  We need to breathe to have life.  What a concept.  But when we think about this thing that does well all by itself and doesn’t need help, we realize that sometimes it needs reminders.  It needs reminders to slow down.  To take it all in.

When I think about what it means to breathe I find that the focus shifts to that one thing that allows me to keep on living. 

Let’s take deep breaths together.  Let’s realize that the rise and fall rhythm gives us life in more ways than one.