Breathe

Article By: Linda Kent Bruce

Oh so simple yet oh so complicated. Remembering to do those basic things that keep us healthy and alive.

Often when I pull down the quarter mile driveway at Soulful Prairies my mind starts reeling out of control. I see the front sign tipping to one side and make a mental note to fix it. The remainder of the snow markers that didn’t get blasted down by a truck need to be pulled. In the grass on the sides of the road I can see the spray of gravel from the winter plowing– another mental note to add this to the list. The dead trees that stand to the right of the drive continue to nag at me just as my truck starts shaking uncontrollably from the pot holes in our gravel drive.

Breathe – just breathe – I remind myself. I can so easily miss the beauty in the process of building my extensive “to do” list. New grass is beginning to poke small spikes of green through the tired fall grass. The geese have landed on the pond as they pass through, heading to their summer homes. The sweeping view brags of happy horses in the distant fields, and our pig, Tucker, rooting around in the garden with a smile that I know is there without even looking.

So much to miss when we don’t breathe, don’t let go and allow all that is good to seep through the cracks and fill in the empty spaces between and around the lists. If we allow it, there is a shift in perspective. The lists become part of the process, less threatening, and once again our lungs can fill with the breath that we need to find wisdom and joy.