An occasional series based on stuff that hangs in my room… or my heart.
It was a game of sorts when I was a child. I liked to see how long I could hold my breath. I don’t think I ever got past 45 seconds or so but I loved the feeling of relief when I took in air again.
That little contest was a lot more interesting than the times I 
had serious difficulty breathing due to pneumonia, asthma, allergies, sinusitis, and so on. But the body adjusts, right? We learn to live congested. We learn to live with shallow breathing–not as much oxygen as we really need, but enough to get by.
I remain a shallow breather today, though my game and most of my health problems are things of the past or under control. But when I complete a set of wall push-ups or get up from my desk and roll my shoulders after sitting too long, I am always pleasantly surprised how good I feel. I need to remember that like many of the best things in life, oxygen is free for the asking. I need to remember to breathe.
