If we don’t learn to breath, your health will force you to.

This happened to me.  More times than I can count.  My mind was racing, because life felt like a race.  Then my health deteriorated.  My mental health was a mess.  And suddenly, everything stopped.  I needed to ‘pause and breathe’.

Products are made from different parts.  Well, I’m the product of a difficult childhood, failed relationships, physical problems and mental health problems.  Yet, this is not my identity.  I’d rather let God identify me.  Sadly, my broken parts are still there.  I also forget to breathe, thinking I am able to pile the expectations of myself as high as a mountain.

I quickly learned that life is a gift.  Even more so, life is precious.  And we need to take life one step at a time.  Trust me, life can be more fulfilling if we slowed down, if we practiced mindfulness and if we refused to follow culture.   We do have a choice in the matter.

If you’ve been living at a fast paced life with a lot of brokenness and you find yourself with mental health issues, listen to these statements: ‘I get it’ and ‘you’re not alone’.  These may seem cliche, but it is true.

We are always rushing.  When we were babies, our parents used to cut up our food into chunks.  And now?  Now we stop at McDonald’s and do not even chew our food properly, because something is chasing us.  Life, a demanding boss, kids, time or even traffic.  It is not to say that any of these of wrong, but its in the way we handle them.

Did God not give us the power to make our own lifestyle choices?  What is keeping us from breathing for once?  Oh, obviously the fact that the world rejects anyone who dares to swim upstream instead of going with the flow.  But who cares what the world thinks?  The world also forgot how to breathe.

If you knew your health was going to be this way a few years ago, the alarming sound of hospitalization or serious treatment, would’ve made you pause.

Why should mental health be different?  Do you seriously know what breathing could do for you?  Physically and figuratively.  Imagine giving yourself time.  Imagine giving yourself grace.  Oh, the sound of that freedom!  God gives us both, so why wouldn’t we give it to ourselves?

If I asked you this one question: Do you know how to breathe?  You would say yes, but your mind and your body will be screaming.  Because we deprive ourselves of living a proper life.

The Bible talks about loving others as we love ourselves.  We therefore know that we ought to love ourselves too.  Are you ready to love yourself and make a change?

Your mental health will thank you.

And remember: culture says – fasten your pace, be more, buy more, achieve more, work like hell, get over it.  But God says – breathe and come to Me.

One thought on "Breathe"

  1. Russel Brege says:

    Hey, you used to write excellent, but the last several posts have been kinda boringK I miss your tremendous writings. Past few posts are just a bit out of track! come on!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *