Another season is coming to an end, and with it another period begins.
It’s always a bittersweet moment, arriving at that juncture of culminations and new beginnings.
Memories of both the good and the bad flood in and seemingly overwhelm you.
The kiss of a smile might grace your lips or the sorrow of a sigh might escape your throat.
The kiss of a smile might grace your lips or the sorrow of a sigh might escape your throat.
But when all is said and done, you come up for air again, and like you have always done, you inhale… and then exhale.
Breathe.
Love is the most worthy of all things known to man, and it’s probably the hardest to do, accept or feel.
If pain is love and love is pain, then pain cannot be totally bad, now can it?
For it lets you know that what you currently are is not who you want to be.
And it’s always great to hear some truth once in a while.
And it’s at that apex, while you watch dumbfounded and spell bound, that the pain you’ve known transforms itself into what it was all along: Love.
And when all is said and done, you come up for air again, and like you’ve always done, you inhale…and then exhale.
Breathe.
Change. The only thing constant and certain in this life is change. And even then the nuances of possibilities are never ending.
Change the noun. A shift in the current state of being.
Change the verb. An action taken to induce a reaction in a state of being.
Change the idea. Once again, endless possibilities.
Change can be good, change can be bad, change can be scary, change can be fun.
But change gives us a chance to start over and remake our choices.
And once all is said and done, you come up for air again, and like you’ve always done, you inhale…and then exhale.
Breathe.
How does a new-born baby know to allow its lungs to do the thinking? How do children stare up at you wide-eyed and grinning, not doubting what you tell them?
Trust. Just like the word says, it’s what allows you to thrust yourself into an experience, a situation, a state of mind, without doubting.
It’s the invisible backbone to our genetic make-up that urges us to give things another try, to make a definitive decision to embrace it all.
And just like the day we allowed our lungs to do the thinking for us, our natural state of being is to trust the one who brought us forth in the first place.
So when all is said and done, we come up for air again, and like we’ve always done, we inhale…and then exhale.
Breathe.
So like I was saying before I got caught up in this brewing current.
When you get to that crossroad, that turning point or deal breaker, remember these three things:
Love. It’s at the very core of the universe and it always manifests in one way or another. When it comes down to it, it’s what matters the most.
Change. Paradoxical as it is, it is the only constant thing in the world. Stop fighting it and start embracing it. Go on that roller coaster of experience and live life to the fullest.
Trust. Thrust yourself into the endless possibilities that abound, and believe deep within that the one who cradled you even before you became a reality will always be there for you to turn to.
Because when all is said and done, we come up for air again, and like we’ve always done, we inhale… and then exhale.
Breathe.
—
© Jemila Abdulai, 2008
Jemila Abdulai is the creative director, editor and founder of the award-winning website Circumspecte.com. A media and international development professional and economist by training, she combines her business, communications and project management expertise with her strong passion for Africa. Besides writing and reading, she enjoys travel, global cuisine, movies, and good design.