Breathe, Believe, Be

Everything will be alright in the end... if it's not alright then it's not yet the end.

~~ Sonny, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)

I don't know where this quote originally came from (I believe John Lennon said a variation on it), but I heard it in the (amazing) film, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. This quote has been much on my mind lately. I have had a couple of occasions in as many days to share it with people who I thought needed to hear it. And so, I was inspired to share the following post from my previous blog.

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Something very interesting happened to me a few years back.  I realized, one day, that I am old enough to know stuff.  Not just stuff I read somewhere or heard from someone else.  I actually have enough life experience to back up what I know.  I'm not sure when that happened, but I suppose it happens to everyone eventually.

When I was 21, I was almost killed by a drunk driver.  I spent the following year in excruciating pain while I waited for my shattered leg to heal and relearned how to do almost everything without the use of my now-paralyzed right hand.

When I was 31, my husband and I lost almost everything we owned in a tornado.  We picked up what we could save, discarded what we couldn't, and went forward from there.

People still ask me how I dealt with those things.  I learned to do three things.  I find these three things can get me through pretty much everything from daily frustrations like heavy traffic to tragedies that you always hope you never have to face:

1. Breathe

Take a deep breath.  Then take another one.  People have a tendency to hold their breath when something hurts (physically, emotionally, or in any other way).  Physical therapy taught me that you have to breathe through pain.  All holding your breath does is deprive you of air.  Hold your breath too much and you eventually pass out.

2. Believe

Believe that it's going to be OK.  Believe in yourself and your strength.  Believe that God will handle whatever you can't.

3. Be

Be calm.  Be brave.  Remember that ultimately nothing lasts forever.  Be aware of the big picture, but just work on the next thing that needs you attention.  Don't try to take step number 327 when you're still on step number 3.

And that's it.  That's my big secret to surviving the things that I could have allowed to crush me.  I don't have any great, profound wisdom.  All I have is just three simple, little steps.