Filled with the breath of life

Every new year, I like to come up with at least one simple idea that I can incorporate into my daily life. To get my creative juices flowing, I began thinking deeply about what I could do to improve myself and how I should do it. The best answers are not so obvious.

For instance, one truth I have learned is that a man is what he thinks about all day long. In each moment, we can think like a sinner, creating conflicts in our path, or a saint seeking solutions and opportunities for all problems and difficulties. I suggest that we dwell and act on the benefits of feeding our minds positive and uplifting thoughts.

I came across an inspiring and new insight as I was waiting on a customer at the jewelry store where I work. It was during the holiday season, and the customer came in to pick up a ring. He had the words "breathe" engraved on the inside of his wedding band. I asked what the words meant. He said he wanted to remind himself of the importance of just stopping every now and than and remembering to breathe deeply.

The more I thought about it, the more I was captured by the wisdom of that simple thought. Taking a pause to breathe deeply can help us be more alive, more aware of the moment. There is serenity in moments like that.

We are constantly changing from one moment to the next, but the only place and time we can truly experience is here and now. God bless us all, and may 2001 be filled with the peace of those restoring moments when we fill ourselves with the breath of life.
-Russell J. Blake