Walk With Your Spirit
We were high in the Smoky Mountains, well on our way to our anxiously anticipated destination. Across a precarious land bridge and over a treacherous peak was the view of a precious waterfall that awaited our eager enjoyment.
At that moment, however, we were 14 miles into our hike, and only half-way through a 2 mile stretch of a ridiculously steep incline, forcing my mind into somersaults; my breath as quick and shallow as my thoughts. I’m so thirsty. I should have brought more water. My feet hurt. Did we lock the car? Where is the top of this freaking hill? Water. Must. See. Waterfall. Still no sign of the top? Lord. Make. It. Stop!
“You have to walk with your breath, love,” he said, interrupting my disparaging monologue. “Otherwise you will leave your spirit behind. And you can’t live without it.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. The profundity of this statement was not lost on me. It hit me like a massive ocean wave and then, silent and tender, drew me into the tide pool of understanding. I can’t walk without my breath; I can’t walk without my spirit. This was blessed inspiration.
I find it interesting that the word inspire can both be defined as “to infuse by breathing, or as if by breathing” and “to infuse into; to affect, as with a superior or supernatural influence; to fill with what animates, enlivens, or exalts.” (Thank you, Wikipedia.) This is what happens when we breathe; we take in new life. We inundate our cells and our spirit with vitality and freshness.
Sometimes we simply forget how to be. It is not so complicated as we have led ourselves to believe. You don’t have to meditate for three hours or go to the ends of the earth in search yourself. You are Here. Now. There is nowhere else you can be. All we need to do is breathe and remember.
It is so easy to forget! Now, of course, our bodies breathe for us whether or not we are aware of it. Our minds also, at times, think for us without us being aware of it. Isn’t that strange? It can also be a hindrance in our walking. Sometimes we try to walk ahead of ourselves, peering into our future. Sometimes we retrace old footsteps, holding on to the past. When we walk in this way we leave our spirit in the present moment and wander off listlessly, lost in the wilderness of our minds.
How many of us wake up in the morning and the chatter has already started? I slept through my alarm. I’m going to be late for work. Ugh, my boss is going to give me that look again. I have all this paperwork. I have to get the kids to school. Is that recital tonight? Oh no! I have a meeting today! Without putting these thoughts in check we may unwittingly spend the whole day with our minds on the future. We infuse ourselves with anticipation and worry. No wonder we are tired at the end of the day!
And what about when you put yourself to sleep? Is the mind still going? I didn’t finish my tax return. I still need to scan all those documents. I forgot the milk at the store! We lament and sing our pitiful odes to what should have been. And we wonder why we are feeling a bit depressed?
All this time we spend with our thoughts carrying us away from our spirit, our inspiration. It is draining, no? When we walk without our spirit, we become like a robot running on our automated patterns. We lose our sense of awe and exaltation for life.
Sometimes it is discomfort that sends us away from our spirit. This was my experience as I trudged my way up that mountain, begrudging every step. But once I stopped and took a deep, cleansing breath, I felt light once again, unburdened by thought, renewed by the presence of inspiration. It was the act of trying to escape my discomfort that was most unsettling, not the discomfort itself. I slowed to the pace of my breath and the pain subsided. I made my way to the top with a smile. And when we finally found our way to that waterfall, I was able to see it with the full depth of my soul and offer the sincere reverence it so rightly deserved.
~ ~ ~
To walk with you spirit is simple.
Should you ever find you have lost your way
or lost your lust for life,
take a breath.
Your breath will guide you Home.