Breathe, Charlene, Breathe

I recently went indoor skydiving for the first time. I wanted to do outdoor skydiving, but my sister wasn’t going for that. Lol! So indoor we went.

I stepped into the air tunnel excited. I wanted to get the positioning right quickly so that I could embrace the full experience. Within seconds I was floating horizontally in the position I was taught minutes before. Winds blowing at 80 mph pounded against my face. Suddenly my excitement vanished. I wasn’t having fun. I glanced over at the clock. I had only been in about 15-20 seconds. I wanted to get out. I couldn’t breathe. I literally could not breathe.

I was holding my breath.

That’s why I couldn’t breathe. I don’t know why my first instinct was to hold my breath, but it was.  Maybe it was the intense winds coming at me. Maybe it was anxiousness of a new experience. Maybe it was fear.

“Breathe, Charlene, breathe,” I said to myself.

Then I let go of my breath and started to breathe.

I no longer wanted to get out. My excitement returned. I began to have the time of my life. Indoor skydiving is a blast and all I imagined it to be.

It’s amazing how quickly an experience can improve. It’s amazing how quickly the experience of life can change for the better.

There is power in our breath yet a lot of times we forget to do that most basic thing. We forget to breathe.

In the hustle and bustle of life we run around holding our breath with faces turning blue. When we are swooped up into a disappointing experience we forget to breathe.

And then suddenly the blessing of life vanishes. We stop having fun. We stop being in reverence and gratitude to all that life is. We glance over at the clock. Yet we don’t notice that there is still time.

When life gets confusing, frustrating, disappointing, stressful or depressing,

Breathe, my sister, breathe.

Inhale. Let your breath fill your lungs as your belly expands. Exhale. Letting go of all the confusion, frustration, disappointment, and stress.

As long as you have breath you are okay. Even in the moment that you think you can’t take another second, when you just want to get out everything is okay.

Remember to breathe. There is power in your breath. There are solutions, ideas, clarity, and resolutions in your breath.

“Breathing is the life-sustaining exercise that brings the spirit into balance.” – Iyanla Vanzant

Not breathing can impair your physical and psychological functioning. Holding your breath can make you dizzy and confused. You don’t want to face life’s circumstance in this state.

How many times do you find yourself holding your breath in a stressful situation? How many times is your first reaction to freak out and lose control?

Your first impulse should always be to breathe. That’s your power position.

God breathed life into Adam and then Adam became a living being. (Gen. 2:7)

You can breathe life into your situations. You can breathe life into your relationships. You can breathe life into your finances. You have to first breathe in order to do so.

“As long as I breathe, I attack.” Bernard Hinault

You can handle anything that comes your way. You can make all your dreams come true. You can survive 60 seconds in an indoor skydiving tunnel. 🙂

You are capable, strong, and courageous. You are amazing.

You have breath therefore you are alive.

Life is a blessing.

In Hebrew “breath” means “life.”

Let your breath remind you of the blessing of life.

No matter what you come up against, no matter how fast the winds pounding your face are, always remember to

breathe, my sister, breathe.

❤