It’s so simple but it’s so important. Mr. Miyagi was teaching his young student the importance of being calm when in the midst of combat. It’s normal to lose your cool when the pressure is on but you are far more likely to succeed if you are able to keep your head on straight. Breathe in, breathe out.

Does life feel more like breathing in to you or out? We are in a lot of situations where we are called to breathe out. Within the context of our marriages, our families, our jobs and in many other arenas we have opportunities to breathe out. By breathing out I simply mean giving to and serving others. In a fast-paced culture of emails and text messages, everybody expects you to be available all the time. I’m sure we all know what happens when we breathe out all the time without ever breathing in. At some point we have to gasp because we need air! Don’t we all sometimes feel this way? Like we just need even 5 minutes just to catch our breath? This is not how life is supposed to be lived. Life is supposed to be lived within the daily rhythms of breathing in and out.

We should be engaging daily in activities that refresh and revitalize our souls. What refreshes you? It could be working out, reading, surfing, golfing, hanging out with friends or any number of different things. I realize that we all need to breathe out in life but we can’t breathe out effectively if we are not breathing in. What in your schedule equates to breathing in? What in your schedule equates to breathing out? How can you develop a more balanced routine that incorporates both breathing in and out?