by Monda Mahmoud

Created on: June 20, 2009

Life hands us ironies by the dozen. Let me humor you with this one; why is breathing not in our own hands to function or control? It is essential to our being, a crucial activity to us remaining alive but usually we're not aware of our breathing. It happens to be a continuous spontaneous act.

Ever considered the times when we almost stopbreathing? Surprisingly enough, we occasionally have one of those! We find ourselves out of breath after a rigorous aerobic workout, a strenuous half hour on the treadmill, or a game of football. We're huffing and puffing and panting for air. When we exercise, our heart rate increases rapidly; and it leaves us breathless. At that precise moment, we're primarily concerned with catching our breath and nothing else.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Then your heart skips a beat. For a split second, you cannot breathe. You feel your head spinning. Your mind is racing. Your eyes are wide open, frozen on a bright light in a far corner. Your vision is a blur. Your pulse starts to race. The sound of your pounding heart startles you. It is loud and strong. You're trying to think, you're trying to understand something, or anything. You cannot process all the thoughts warping through your head; they're clouding your judgment. You don't move, but you blink. You realize you're not breathing still. Then you feel an immense need to draw in a deep breath of fresh air.

Breathe in. Breathe. Breathe out.

Does this scenario sound remotely familiar to you? This is what happens to us the moment when we panic, and a surge of fear takes over us. There is an overwhelming rush of feelings that begin with us in a state of shock and literally not able to breathe; then end with us eventually gasping for air to breathe.

Panicking, feeling tense or under pressure can make us momentarily forget to take a breath. That's understandable. These moments are not ones we brag about though. They are mere incidents we've been through, and we let them slip away from our memories. We do not recall them as a vivid experience. Given that notion, why is it that we express our feelings to someone we care about by saying 'you take my breath away'. My point being that taking your breath away brings you closer to not breathing which translates as not living. Isn't that in some absurd way equating our emotions of love with actually dying?

The paradox I find here is that there are moments that genuinely take our breath away. Some are engraved in our minds, we cherish them dearly

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