I began physical therapy for a chronic back condition late last week in the midst of preparations for the writing conference. I went in ready to work out. After an evaluation, the therapist began working with me. The first thing I needed to learn to do was breathe.
Okay, I don't know what I have been doing all these 40+ years. I thought I was breathing: taking air in, blowing air out. Problem was, I have not been breathing correctly. I have only been breathing shallowly. I have to retrain myself to breathe deeply, correctly, as I did when I was a child. The therapist told me that by the time many people hit their teens, they no longer breathe correctly.
So my first step of PT consisted of laying on the cot, breathing. I had to learn how to engage my whole diaphragm and all of my lungs, instead of only the top portion. After this, I could begin to learn how to stretch properly. Again, all my knowledge had to be thrown out. The stretches I am doing don't look like stretches at all. They look like I am barely moving, barely holding a position.
And this got me thinking: how much of my life have I spent on the shallow end of things? How many things have I thought I knew how to do, only to find that I have been causing myself more pain? Time to go back to basics. Time to learn again what I thought I knew.
The Lord has longed for a relationship with me that is deeply intimate. But it has been too easy for me to stay shallow. Yes, I am still in relationship with Him, I still spend time with Him. But I am denying the very thing which will not only give me life, but also cleanse me. When I breathe shallowly, I am not expelling the carbon dioxide fully. Therefore, toxins build up in my system, which only exacerbates muscle tension and stress. The same is true when I just do the bare minimum time with the Lord. He has been showing me to go deeper in His word the last couple of months, and I have been spending extended time in reading and praying.
Artist: Avalon
Song: Dreams I Dream For You
Album: A Maze Of Grace
(Chorus:)
The dreams I dream for you
Are deeper than the ones you're clinging to
More precious than the finest things you knew
And truer than the treasures you pursue
Let the old dreams die
Like stars that fade from view
Then take the cup I offer
And drink deeply of
The dreams I dream for you
How many areas of my life have I lived through, but not truly lived? I have gone through my days, doing what needed to be done, but there was no passion, no vitality? It is because I stayed shallow, which is very easy to do. What the Lord has been asking me is, what am I passionate about? What am I excited to pursue? Writing is obviously one thing. But there are others, waiting to be rediscovered. I am going back and thinking about when I was young. What did I dream of? What did I long for? What hopes did I have? I would encourage each reader to do the same. The Lord longs to set us free, to be who He created us to be, to dream the dreams He has for us.
Blessings!
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5 comments:
"How many areas of my life have I lived through, but not truly lived? I have gone through my days, doing what needed to be done, but there was no passion, no vitality?"
yes; very well written :)
i remember when my girls were babies that reading to them sometimes was very boring. i remember thinking, "i'm going to read to them whether i'm bored or not, so i might as well make it fun." reading with "fun" in my voice has become such a habit that i don't think about anymore, and it has made it so much more fun over the years to read their books to them. i know this age will soon pass, and they won't want mamma to read to them anymore; i need to enjoy it for the few remaining years i have left.
i need to remember to adapt that to all my life ... sometimes my memory is better than at other times ;)
i knew deep breathing was best, but i hadn't heard of the carbon dioxide retaining toxins in my body. gosh, all those companies selling products to remove toxins would hate for this "free" info to get out, wouldn't they?!
(i would like to introduce you on my blog as a family with your husband and chris, would that be okay with you?)
Ame–
I remember those days of reading aloud to my kids. Tiring yes, but the memories we share of some favorite books! When we were homeschooling the kids, I read each day during lunch. There was one book that none of us wanted to quit so I ended up reading aloud for about 5 hours that day. :D
Wouldn't all those drug companies just be fit to be tied if the infomercials all started telling us that we just need to breathe deeply to look young? :P
Feel free to introduce us as you see fit.
Blessings!
The Great and Terrible Quest! I wish it wasn't out of print. *sad*
Thanks for the post, Mom, and for the comments. I'm okay. Last night was frustrating (well, two nights ago by the time you read this), but it's okay. It's something God's going to have to deal with, not me, in any case. I'll tell you about it sometime not on the Interwebs.
This post was a blessing, and interestingly, a reflection of some of the things I've been thinking about lately, especially about dreaming God's dreams. That was a timely song choice!
Love you.
Amen to this! I'm afraid we all live far too shallow life's in Christ if truth be known..He is so much bigger and deeper than we can even imagine...popping over from Ame's site...nice to meet you..:)
Jada–nice to meet you! I am really asking the Lord to keep me awake so that I am living deeply every moment of every day.
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