Exhale

Just to breathe. Inhale and exhale without hesitation and caution. What would it be like? I have no idea.

There always seems to be something happening in my life that prevents the simple act of exhaling. Completely anyway. I think I always hold my breath just a little bit in anticipation of whatever is going to go wrong or be thrown at me next.

I think of Angela setting that beamer on fire, and wonder what would I need to ignite in my own life that would set me free and allow me to simply breathe. Who knows? When Left Eye burned that house down… I hope she exhaled. I wish I could burn something. Turn it into ashes and then sweep it right out of my life, but unfortunately it doesn’t work that way for most of us.

We have to face the music. Face it all head on. But my question is can we find a way to do that and still manage to breathe - Full deep breaths that expand our lungs to full capacity. Maybe we do that part sometimes. I think it’s easier to inhale than exhale. The inhale is what we do when we take everything in. Carry other people’s burdens, trials, and circumstances. We breathe all the drama, confusion, hurt and pain into us, and then we have no idea how to let it go. How to just exhale.

I think for most of us, we have to learn how to exhale a little bit at a time. Let go of one thing…and then another. And with each one the task gets a little easier and it doesn’t take us as long to get it out. My concern is that we aren’t exhaling completely. Some of that mess is staying in us taking up space that could be used for breaths of fresh air.

My advice? Take inventory. Use a stethoscope if necessary. Listen to your breathing. Make sure that you are exhaling as deeply as you are inhaling and that you are leaving no remnants behind. Get it out. All of it. Leave nothing in there taking up space inside you that is in need of fresh air - Life creating air.

So, for all of us shallow breathers out there. Take a page out of Angela’s character or Lisa’s real life. Figure out what you need to do. What fire needs to be lit – what trash needs to be taken out – what needs to go out the window. And once you know what it is, take one last deep breath, and then……

Exhale.