The Breath and The Tension

Take a deep breath.

Breathe it in, and back out.

The breath itself is a kind of search—a search for strength you can summon later in the day when circumstances rise to the level where you’re tempted to react. Reaction often shows up as anger, and anger hurts people—and hurt people, in turn, hurt other people.

So that’s the reason for the breath.

My hope is to respond to situations in a way that doesn’t add more hurt to the room. Am I successful at this? I honestly don’t know. I’m starting to realize that I’m not always the best judge of my own actions—other people experience and interpret them, too.

And that’s the tension, isn’t it? I don’t want to live for other people’s approval, but I also don’t want to be unkind. The distinction I’m learning is this: being kind and compassionate doesn’t mean you’re living for approval. It just means you don’t want to be cruel or add to someone else’s pain.

Question for you:

When you feel yourself starting to react, what helps you shift from automatic reaction to intentional response?