That Last Breath Underwater

I do not like the beach! I don't enjoy indoor pools! I don't even like hotel pools! But, if given a non-peed-in, open to the sun, private pool to swim in I would do it! I would totally throw on my hardly-ever-used swimming trunks and tighten the draw-string and not only jump, but would cannon-ball jump into the pool! I would totally enjoy that intimate time with me and the sun (well, that is not all true, if Ava was with me I would be totally up for swimming with her). Anyway, I remember when I was younger I really enjoyed the pool... a lot! I remember swimming with my brother and sisters and we would play that very famous and even trendy game "Marco, Polo"! We would say, "Marco" and the rest of us would get all giddy and nervous and quietly say, "Polo". If you've never played this game the best way I can explain it is to say it is a game of tag where the person who is "it" must close his/her eyes and try to find at least one other person. The way this person found others was for that person to say, "Marco" and all the other participants were forced to say, "Polo". Then there was the weighing in the pool to attempt the blind search for someone to take his/her spot as the "it". (note: I still have no clue to why we had to yell out those two names... anyone?) Anyway, that was one game we played in the pool. Then there was the water aerobics to no music... who could put on the best performance game. And then there was the game that we all wanted to win... who could hold their breath under the water the longest game!

This was my favorite game, because I could usually hold my breath longer than all of my siblings and most of my friends. This wasn't only fun to win for public glorification, but for private personal goals. I wanted to not only beat all the others, but to also set a record that no body could beat; this was in case I couldn't win one particular time I could always say, "but I do hold the record for the longest under the water." The reason I got so good at this was because I discovered the second breath! Do you know about the second breath? Okay, so envision yourself in the pool and you are getting pumped up to go under and you take a huge deep breath and hold it and then drop underwater... one, two, three, four, five, six (the time keeps ticking in your mind)... seven... eight... and so on. You begin to forget counting and focus on your breath and how hard it is getting to do so and you even open your eyes to see if someone else is faulting and making their way back to the surface for that fresh air. Nine... 10... 11... 12... Now comes the feeling that your head is going to explode, but the pride of winning outweighs that and you allow more brain cells to die (yes, this is what happens when we do things like this... probably explains a lot about my C average in college). You get through it and continue to count... 13... 14... 15... (now, in all actuality its been much longer, but because you are trying to focus on holding your breath it seems like eternity... thank goodness there was someone above water timing this with his/her new swatch watch)... 16... 17... 18... okay, now comes the hidden weapon! The second breath! I release all the air out of my body through my mouth directly toward my nose to grab an air bubble or two and get that second breath (do not try this unless you are ready to take in a lot of water your first few attempts... it is not for the weary). "Yes, everyone else is heading up and I still can make it a little longer w/o dying down here." The counting continues until I can no longer take the pressure or the lack of breath and then I use all of my leg muscles to shoot my body out of the pool into the much needed oxygen filled air (did that scientifically make sense?)! Wow, the feeling at that moment is more precious than any meal I ever ate, better than any movie I ever saw, more valuable than any relationship I had and much more needed than anything else in the world... that was the breath of life! I am alive! I am alive! But I really say, "I won!"

Have you been there, in the pool? Well, in life, we all go through times when we feel like we are underwater and we have no clue how long we can make it under there. Sometimes we are there because of poor choices we've made, and other times we're their because of poor choices someone else has made and we find ourselves getting the soak! Then there are times we just love the excitement of being under the water and know that it is slowly killing a piece of us (like the brain cells), but we jump in and see how long we can go. Other times we were thrown in and there is a weight attached to our feet and we have no clue how we are going to come out of this... right? We've all been there! I'm there right now! And then comes the last breath... the true Breath of Life! He puts just enough to get us out of the water! He gives us just enough to give our muscles the extra strength to push on the bottom to rush us to the surface where we find endless amounts of His Air! He is the air we need to breath to give us sustenance, to give us hope, to give us meaning, to give us all we need for life... but I rush back underwater hoping there is something down there that brings me meaning, hope, love and all I'm searching for.

I am underwater... being given that second breath... I wonder how long I can go? What about you?