Who Has Time To Breathe?

Have you ever begun a week feeling like Monday should be Friday, or wishing it was still Sunday? Reflecting over the past weekend, full of family, late nights, separation, single parenting, endless driving, chores that never seem accomplished, funky weird dysfunction relationships (and those are the people you love), people to call, people to please, lists to complete the lists of things to do, running out of money, bills, stress, tension, emotional thinning (not to mention my hair), and on and on and on. And in my mind, a line in a Bangles song, “It's just another manic Monday”, begins to echo throughout.

It’s not like we ask for these days to bless us with their presence, but they come anyway. And when they come, we can so often automatically fall into negative patterns of coping with life. All the while, as we begin to engage in faulty thinking and bad habits, the little voice that yells, “slow down, you can do something else, you don’t have to feel this way, you don’t have to do that, you are better than this”, begins to fade, becoming less and less noticeable, quieter in our brains, dying a slow death into the blackened abyss of forgetfulness.

Once again, we see that simplicity is far from simple and inner peace is far from easy, as we are caught in the web of negativity, actually causing our own spiral descent into a miserable day. And yet, I find it amazing that just 3 breaths, 3 nice long breaths, approximately 15 seconds, can change the course of our minds and bring us into the reality of the greatness of life and gratefulness of all that surrounds us. Three simple and easy breaths, to reframe the day, and refocus the moments of our present into the joy of our future.

It makes me wonder that when we believe simplicity and ease are a struggle, it’s because we have chosen to “be” in the present of our misery, which really is the struggles of yesterday and fears of tomorrow, mucking up our dreams of the future. I encourage you today, my friend and reader, to slow down, take a few easy breaths, release the tensions that build within, just be, and live the day as your Creator desires, in peace and serenity. It’s your choice; I know what mine will be.


http://www.centeringprayer.com/
http://www.dayonepublishing.com/VMC/Exercises/Exercises.html

(The writings in this post are random thoughts and observations and are NEVER intended as professional or personal advice. Take what works and leave the rest. For information on mental health and/or substance abuse help, visit http://www.rodneyvalandra.com and refer to the links page.)

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