Pause, Stop, Recess, Suspend, Breathe and Listen

 Mondays seem to be synonymous with busy; emails, phone calls and deadlines approach and I start to tackle my to-do list. In the midst of the hectic schedules, it can be so easy to forget to take a moment to appreciate the beauty in the moment.

So… I stopped to smell a rose. It only takes a moment to pause and smell this beautiful little bloom, breathing deeply to take in the sweet scent. Small lines of pink need to be appreciated in the midst of the swirl of yellow. Beauty of glossy leaves made me pause to admire their deep green color.

And… I listened to the rain, watching it land drop by drop on the branches of a small tree. Leaves danced with the landing of the drops; shimmering in the late afternoon light.  Small drops held by surface tension cling to the edges of leaves.

Busy moments are all well and good; I really don’t care to be bored. I simply work to remain the balance in the small moments to breathe in the scents, listen to the rain, and enjoy the pause. Giving myself that pause not only makes the day a bit more enjoyable, but lets me appreciate the beauty created around me.

The Air I Need to Breathe

There is a song that I keep hearing snatches of in my head, one phrase really and it just plays over and over. It’s not one of those really annoying stuck in your head songs like Rubber Ducky or The Song That Never Ends. It is just a phrase where it acknowledges that God knows just how much air I will need to breathe. It blows me away. I never thought of that before. It’s not like my breathing is an always constant thing. I use more air when yawning or taking a brisk walk, breathing deep and really filling my lungs. At other times, that breathing is just so matter of fact, I don’t even think about it.

That amazes me. I’m sure there is some average we could figure. The human lungs hold approximately this much air volume. From that, multiply it by the number of adults estimated and we can get some sort of a figure of how much air we need. But unless we are going to drastically over-estimate, would you all mind breathing a bit slower and more shallowly? I’d hate to run out.
The creator of the universe knows how much air I will need in my life, how many sighs, yawns, gasps, deep breaths, and just normal breaths I will take. Amazing!

Nurse, Hold, Carry… and Release

Have you ever noticed the way we use the words grudge, problem, and burden? We nurse grudges, hold problems close, and carry burdens. Ever wonder why? I mean, doesn’t that seem a bit backwards? You would think that we would want to shun grudges, dismiss problems, and rid ourselves of burdens.

Okay, so it’s not that easy to let go of these things. It’s not so easy to release those things. And at other times I think we, myself included, are not even realizing that we are doing such things. Nursing a grudge, holding it close and nurturing it; I’ve been there and done that. It’s not easy to let those go, especially if it is something that has been nursed. Problems held close, repeated over and over in the mind and heart until they are overwhelmed and the problems are so bloated that they are completely out of perspective. Burdens are carried, moved with us from place to place. We get up and move and pick up our burden and carry it along with us.
Take a deep breath. No, really – a deep breath, way down in the bottom of your lungs. Then, hold it for a few moments, then relax and let it out. Feel the relaxing in your muscles as the air goes wooshing out, the pressure release? For me, that is a pleasant feeling. What if we let go of our grudges, problems, and burdens in the same way? Wooosh and we release it to God, who can carry our burdens and let us go on without having to carry all of that with us. What a release!