Breathing In

One foot then the other as cool water rushed against my skin. Breathing quick as it hit my ribs, I looked to the other side.

Of the pool that is.

I don’t like swimming. But I have this idea in my head of me swimming in the ocean near our house. Go figure!

So I leaned back, pushed off the wall and dove down. And quickly resurfaced for air.

Not in a pretty way. Like water filling my goggles with some up my nose way.

Trying again, I pushed off and dove down. Resurfacing, I gasped.

Catching my breath in that moment felt unnerving. Fears and insecurities came into play as I tried this new thing.

At work today, it felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. Walking into the break room, I opened a snack. This thought came to my mind and I opened my phone notes app to write…

Let it in

Let it out

And don’t forget to breathe again

I didn’t realize I was holding my breathe. Not giving space for the air to move deep inside of me and fuel me. Just keeping it on the surface to help me get to the next gasp.

Sitting there and pondering those words, I thought back to the pool.

I held onto so much that when I got in the water my lungs had little space. Just enough to catch a quick breathe. But as things came off, as thoughts left and truth flooded in, space was made.

For enjoyment. For confidence. For excitement. The breathes got deeper. Richer. Moving me.

I love that space gets made. That we get to surrender what we have in exchange for something deeper. Richer. Fuller.

And with each opportunity, we get to breathe again. To let out those things holding us back. To let breathe in.