"A Timely Breath"
By Brian Germain

If you always begin whatever is before you with a deep breath, with a clear head, whatever you pursue must come out for the best. If you breathe when you most need to, if you pause before taking action, your subsequent motions will be within your control, and your choices will be your own.

Without the pause before the action, without the breath preceding the movement, we are subject to the inertia that governed us at the moment that we began this action: The past skews the future. If however, we choose to dominate our actions with the feeling of calmness, with emotional balance, our choices are made with intelligence. This is what is meant by "emotional intelligence". Without this, we cannot be masters of what lies before us.

The path is varied. The path is complex. The path requires the fullness of our attention, the completeness of our ability, and the appropriate application of our knowledge. Applied information, gathered from the past, pulled out in perfect timing; this level of human brilliance is only attained after we pause, breathe, and decide the best course of action.

We tend to focus on action, rather than feeling. We strive to achieve through forced effort and willful intent, but all too often neglect to account for the profound effects of feeling. Thoughts are formed based on the mood we are in at the time. If we are not in the most productive state of mind, with intrinsic joy gleaned from this very moment, this very action, we are locked into thoughts that are not the most beneficial for us. We are being our lower selves. It is this place within us that brings about the perspective of unhappiness and lack of fulfillment.

When we take a moment to re-collect ourselves in the present moment, and take in that new breath that yields a fresh new perspective, we reacquire our connection to our highest ability to think and be. If we are to live as the best version of ourselves in every moment, we must remember to regulate our emotions and defend our feeling of happiness and positive emotion. This requires an allegiance to the feeling of joy at all costs, never allowing ourselves to live in the negative state of mind. As soon as we realize that we have fallen back into the well-practiced path of misery, and begin complaining about our situation rather than working to change it for the better, we must pause and allow the inner well-being that is at the heart of our inner silence to come though.

Many times I have referred to this as returning to Positive Zero. Rather than defining the absence of thought as empty, we can remember that the state of inner silence, the place we go when we take that deep breath, is in fact the way to reconnect with a positive state of mind. When we stop for long enough; when we release our thoughts, our natural state of wellness floods back to us.

There is no act in life that cannot benefit from a deep breath before taking flight. When we decide where we want to go, what we want to do, and most importantly, how we want to feel, we are in control over the outcome a thousand times more than when we allow the forces of the situation to govern our direction of motion. Things continue in the path in which they are going, at the speed they are going unless we take the reins and de-escalate ourselves when we do not like the feeling. Inertia may be the way of the physical universe, be human intelligence has another agenda. Humanity has the ability to assess our direction of motion and change it if we realize a better option.

This is how the pilot thinks. The pilot does not look at a situation that is heading toward catastrophe and scream in terror, or complain and blame others. The pilot assesses the circumstances, and considers better alternatives, and then moves into action. The pilot mentality is at the heart of true sanity. The pilot believes in the possibility of a positive outcome, and assumes control. That control always begins with control over the emotional experience. Breathe, consider, and then act with total commitment. Now you are the pilot of your life experience.

BSG

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