Can You Give Yourself Space to Breathe?

It’s been a busy month. School and all the activities surrounding it have crash landed into our easygoing summer disorder. Plans are being made. Schedules are filling up. Weekends no longer blissfully blend into weeks as sports games, birthday parties and obligations begin to fill the ever diminishing free spaces.

Until a few years ago, I welcomed this structure. With busyness came a sense of control. Control equaled perfection. Perfection meant I didn’t have to face stillness. I could numb the pain. I didn’t realize that meant I was also numbing the joy.

I mean, I thought I was happy. I had everything I could ever want - a loving husband, two amazing children, the dog, the house, the school, the neighborhood, the car, the social life…  What I really mean is that I thought I should be happy. But, I privately prayed for something that would give me a greater sense of purpose in life. I just never expected that the answer would hit me as hard as it did.

For me, it took half a decade of dis-ease in the form of a dozen different labels - including CFS, environmental illness and fibromyalgia, to name a few - before I learned that stillness is my friend. In the stillness I can now find joy. Real joy. Not the perceived happiness that comes along with having all the right “stuff”.

I came across this quote recently and hope to dive into different parts of it in the coming weeks. For now, though, I’ve found it helpful to simply read it and allow the passages that speak to me to sink in as I sit in stillness and breathe.

Everything you take for granted is a blessing.
Everything you fear is a friend in disguise.
Everything you want is a part of you.
Everything you hate you hate about yourself.
Everything you own does not define you.
Everything you feel is the only Truth there is to know.
Everything you wish for is already on its way to you.
Everything you think creates your life.
Everything you seek for you will find.
Everything you resist will stick around.
Everything you let go of stays if it’s supposed to.
Everything you need is right where you are.

Every time you bless another you bless yourself.
Every time you blame another you lose your power.
Every time you think you can, you can.
Every time you fall you must get up and try again.
Every time you cry you’re one tear closer to joy.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, all you have to do is forgive yourself.

Everyone you see is your reflection.
Everyone you know mirrors you.
Everyone wants to be happy.
Everyone wants to live in joy.
Everyone seeks a higher purpose.
Everyone breathes the same breath.
Everyone needs love to survive.
Everyone has a purpose to fulfill.
Everyone’s the same as everyone else.

We just get caught up in labels, names, skin color and religion.

Everyone’s the same as everyone else. 
No one wants to feel the pain. 
Everyone’s the same as everyone else. 
Everyone is dying for love to remain.
-Jackson Kiddard

THIS WEEK: It’s been a long journey, but it started with the willingness to breathe. I invite you to do the same. Can you give yourself the space to sit in stillness and breathe?   

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