Breath

You took my breath away. Has anyone ever told you this?  Have you experienced a moment of awareness that captured your entire being?  Have you ever considered the true meaning of the phrase?

It took me a while, but now in my thirties, I am taking the time to consider and answer these questions.  I am fortunate enough to have been in these moments and have shared those experiences with those close to me.

So what does it mean, what does the phrase represent?

Previously I’ve simply considered the experience as a magical occurrence that happens in movies: a boy meets girl, they date, struggle through assumptions and inevitable misunderstandings but eventually kiss; that moment is captured in slow, carefully chosen environment with a positive melody in the background.

It is perfect, time stops.

That’s the Hollywood version.  Is it possible in real life? Absolutely!

What does the phrase mean: in my opinion, we go through life and we experience moments.  Some are meaningful, many are boring and routine.  We try to fill our days with actions and responsibilities.  Most of us don’t take the time to focus and be in the moment, most of us are simply, well, busy trying to make sure the bills get paid on time and we catch the next Game of Thrones episode.

However, for some of us, for those of us who are able to step away from the daily chase, to move beyond the checklists and social obligations.  For those select few [and I truly hope more people in the world would get the chance to experience this] those moments are possible, those moments are real and they are remarkable.

To me, “breath” is synonymous with life and how we all see ourselves.  The action is steady, continuous, and repetitive: we live our lives as we breathe: sometimes we are calm, other times we are frazzled. Each moment alters our physical/mental state of existence.

In my experience, the instance when one utters that magical sentence is filled with happiness and joy.  The realization of this state is so powerful that you wish to stop time itself and capture the elusive moment of bliss.  To put it in another way, consider that there is a single breath that can be considered as special, amazing, wonderful, precious.  Consider that instance, that unquantifiable infinity and freeze it.

How do we achieve it: work, just like any other great thing you might have in your life, hard work and dedication.  You learn, understand, struggle, try, fail, try again and eventually succeed.  You repeat the process over and over again by staying true to yourself. When you reach it, you reflect, take it all in, let it go, and then you start all over again.

Eventually, you see the bigger picture, you let go of the trivialities and you hone in the components that are truly important.

If you are honest, true to yourself, kind, patient, determined, and are willing to be brave you have a good chance to experience these magical moments.  It is not easy, but as many other things in life, the answer/path for the things we want in life is incredibly straight forward.

I hope we all take the time, reflect, understand what is important to us.

I hope more people live wholehearted lives.

Our time on this earth is precious and while we are here my dear reader, I think the effort is worth it.