dailydatewithgod

The pause that can occur when we stop and breathe is fundamental to our functioning from our best selves.  It is not as though there are warring entities inside of us but we have several systems at play.  Most importantly is our survival.  Our biological needs come first, then safety, and then belonging.  After that we have our need for esteem and self-actualization.  Our brain’s most immediate response is going to be to react in order to sustain our survival needs.  Our highest expression of self is one that need not worry or focus on survival.  That is a given.  To operate from this higher expression of self we need to reserve our actions.  The pause gives us a chance to take a moment and step out of the automatic reaction.  As an incest survivor this often involves reminding myself where my feet and hands are.  I can experience a sound, touch, sight or smell that reminds my brain of something that was at one time dangerous. If I do not stop to breathe I will go into automatic motion of how to keep myself safe.  I am very grateful for this attribute as it saved my life.  But when I take a moment and reserve reaction, I can notice that I am not a child anymore.  I can presence myself in the moment I am in and take a step back before taking any action.  This enables me to react to the current situation I am in and not one from the past.  It happens so fast and so automatically we often do not stop to notice.  The  reservation of reaction is empowering in my life today in a way that I was not empowered as a child and it is worth all the breaths in the world.