JUST BECAUSE and Joyful Breathing

Joyful Breathing

As you read this sentence, you are breathing. Throughout the entire day today you will be breathing.

The Sages have taught us to be grateful for each and every breath. This is based on the last verse of Tehillim
(Psalms) that says our entire soul should praise the Almighty. The Hebrew word for soul is neshamah, which is similar to the Hebrew word neshimah, breath.

The more frequently you focus on your appreciation and gratitude for each breath, the greater will be your sense of daily gratitude. You can easily add the word "joy" into your new habitual practice.

Since every breath you take is always in the present moment, focusing on gratitude for a breath will also focus your mind on the present moment. This is especially important when you are worrying about the future or being upset about something in the past.

Right now you are still breathing. Great! Now say, "I am joyfully grateful for each and every breath."

Subject:  JUST BECAUSE

Cherokee Legend Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of Passage?   His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him an leaves him alone.  He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it.  He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him.   He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.   We, too, are never alone.    Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us.   When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.      Moral of the story: Just because you can't see God, Doesn't mean He is not there. "For we walk by faith, not by sight."