Breathe

Breathe: According to the Websters Dictionary, to breathe is to to draw air into and expel it from the lungs. The definition above makes breathing an act of necessity, and believe me it is. So if you are sitting there holding your breath, exhale already!

With all joking aside, breathing is an important function for our survival. It is instinctive. We do it without thinking. We do when we are born and until the day we die. Clinically speaking, the act of breathing is purely a mechanism for making our bodies function.

Therefor, I prefer to read from the Merriam-Webster online which gives extended definitions of the word, including...

2: live

Ok, this is still putting it in the neccessity category, but I really think there is more to living then to breathe, have a heart beat, and have the ability to use your body or mind. Living is loving, growing, learning and helping others. It is not a selfish act, it is a generous one, because only in looking past ourselves, can we truly start to see who we really are.

3 aobsolete : to emit a fragrance or aura b: to become perceptible : be expressed breathes and that distinguishes his work — Bennett Schiff>

I am particularly taken in by the latter definition. Be Expressed! Our personalities will radiate through us. How we act, how we treat others, even how we do business is reflected through each and every particle of us as we go about our day. In many ways, out personalities breathe with ever bit of air that is extinguished from us.

4: to pause and rest before continuing

I love the idea that a short relaxation, can be as simple as taking a moment out to breathe. I love the idea that we can feel renewed by a simple breath.

5: to blow softly
6: to feel free of restraint breathe>

My favorite definition of the word breathe is to feel free of restraint. To let go of all disease, anger, pain, and denial and just except that in this moment we are who we are. We can do anything we put our mind to. We can be free of anything which restrains us and sour above the clouds.

So today, I encourage you to get inspired by the action of breathing. I ask that you take a moment to do just that. Put on some soothing music. Take a warm towel, place it over your face. Now, close your eyes, relax, and breathe. Breathe in knowing you are taking in all the amazing people around you that fill your live with love and laughter. Breathe out, knowing that you are relaxing your body and freeing yourself of anything that that restrains you. Breathe in and out savoring every moment.

Pain

Pain: According to the Websters dictionary, pain is defined as a basic bodily sensation induced by a noxious stimulus, received by naked nerve endings, characterized by physical discomfort, such as pricking, throbbing, or aching.

The definition sounds excruciating, but pain is more than just a physical sensation. Pain is something that most women with Endometriosis live with on a daily basis. Pain is what wakes us up at night from our deepest sleep. It is the sensation that collapses a women to her knees before the lord praying for relief.

I spent a lot of time over the past two years thinking about the pain which has taken over my body, yet today as I stress my arm to type these words, I smile. I do not smile at the idea that my arms hurt to move or that my legs are weak today, I smile at the idea that pain is a sensation. It is not the absence of the nerves which only a few months ago we were told are dying off slowly, it is just pain. I can not control it and I can not deny it, but today, I feel it.

I know that my arms are still working. I know that my muscles are getting stronger, and I know that I can overcome this too. Today, pain is my reminder that I am still here, I still have things to do on this planet, and most importantly I still have feelings. Today I propose a toast to the pain, may we not fear it but feel it at least one time in our existence.