The Rhythm of Life

I spent a couple of weeks in Colorado this summer for vacation.  I enjoyed hiking, horseback riding, and quiet evenings reading and talking.    But then I came home to a mountain of work, emails, stacked up appointments, and a long to-do list.  I noticed that it wasn’t more than a couple of days and  I could hardly remember what it was like to be on vacation.  There I was, right back into the hurry, hectic, busy world.  For a moment, I wondered whether it was worth it.

What causes this frantic sense of never enough time and too much to do?  Examining myself, I noticed two things – one that I felt like I needed to make up the time I took off, and two, that there is so much I should do.  The first is about self-worth and others judging me, the second is about me judging myself.

Then I remembered to breathe.  It is truly amazing how one or two long slow deep breaths takes us right back into the center of life and the heart of our being.  In the moment of breathing, I realized that everything is just fine, things will get done, and I can choose what I think is most important.  Each breath slows me down, invites me into calm, and allows a spaciousness to enter back into my life.

Just touching the rhythm of breathing reminds us that there is an innate rhythm to Life.  The breath is an entry into the Soul of Being and it is available at any moment.  Life is breathing us, as we breathe life.  The ancients remind us of this when they wrote  “For everything there is a time and a purpose under heaven.”  In that moment we are restored to the rightful balance within our Souls, and life becomes graceful (grace-filled), once again.