Just breathe it’s not that bad!
Last Sunday, the last Sunday of the year (2019), I went to Sacramento with J and A to give food to people on the street. I had a very inspiring and humbling experience. I want to share it as an inspiration to carry on for next year.
First, I’d like to say that all the credit for the idea and its realization goes to J and A. I just agreed to be part of it and help out. I’m so grateful to have been given this opportunity! Thank you.
It was around 10 am when we arrived and parked the car on a street corner. In that corner, there were two women sitting on boxes and a man standing. It was pretty central and J decided it was a good spot to stop and hand the food.
We popped the trunk open and got out of the car.
As I get out of the car I notice right away the suspicious look on their faces. They seem to say what do you want from us? And why do you stop by our street corner? My first reaction is to feel pretty uncomfortable. I can feel the tension, the guards are up and I don’t know what to do. I don’t really have time to think about it, J jumps out of the car and with her amazing energy she says in a friendly tone: hey guys we have some food in the car, are you hungry? Do you want some?
Hell yeah we’d love some food! Thank you so much says one of the ladies! All the guards went down and smiles started to appear on the faces as we handed the warm burritos. For a few moments kindness created a bridge between humans that were so far apart minutes ago. I see that as an intergalactic shortcut. You know as if an act of kindness was distorting the time-space continuum and bringing together two galaxies that were millions of light years apart! It’s so powerful.
Anyways, here we are handing out burritos, oranges and water. People start to come, we chat with whoever wants to chat and give some hugs to whoever wants a hug! It’s heart warming. People come and go and after just 15 minutes or so we’re running out of food.
I lean on the car to take a break and reflect. My mind starts to do what minds do…think all kind of thoughts. I’m here giving food to people on the streets and my mind is pre-occupied with challenges that tend to make me unhappy.
Oh mind! How can you be so ungrateful, so inappropriate? Don’t you know shame? Or guilt? Don’t you have any boundaries that would keep you in line? I’m deep in my thoughts when I hear: it’s ok, just breathe! I turn and look around. You just need to breathe it’s not that bad. The lady, sitting in the corner was looking at me while saying this out loud! I couldn’t help it but smile at her and as I came closer I said: you’re absolutely right and I like your message a lot.
She smiled back at me and started to say : it’s not that bad just breathe. You understand what I’m saying?
I wasn’t sure if she felt me having a bad moment or if she was talking to herself or both! I was in shock. Here I am, giving food to people on the street. I am very privileged; my challenges are not about survival. I do not need to worry about where I’m going to sleep tonight, or find a warm shelter or food and water. I do have challenges and needs but if you think about Maslow pyramid, they are closer to the top of the pyramid.
Just breathe it’s not that bad. Life is surprising, she says. Oh it’s been a humbling journey but here I am everyday doing what I need to do and reminding myself that it’s not that bad. I have no regrets, I have three beautiful children, I raised them well and they’re doing well. I made mistakes for sure, but I see them as lessons I have no regrets. You know what I’m saying? Life is a journey. We go and move. I open a door and go to the next. Door to door, day-by-day, at the end it’s not that bad. See, I always come back to my breath. When I get stress or anxious, when I lose hope and confidence, when it gets hard and challenging, I say to myself, just breathe it’s not that bad.
I couldn’t move, I had tears in eyes. Thank you, it’s all I could say to her. Thank you.
I was looking at her she was beautiful. She seemed to me like an angel from a different dimension. Sure her human envelope looked a little bit tired. Living on the streets must be exhausting even for angels. But what a beauty! So much wisdom! So much courage! Speak about humbling experience, this one was very humbling to me.
I do realize that she probably was talking to herself mostly and that I hold a space for her to talk. She was thankful too for that. She even said that she didn’t expect to take it that far. But I like to believe that she saw right into my soul and came to rescue me with her wisdom and her message. I like to believe she’s an angel.
Multiple times this year I came to the conclusion that life can be very poetic when you look at everyone and every life experience as a lesson for you to learn. A lesson for your being or soul to move up to the next level. All of a sudden with such an approach you have so many messengers on your way. You just go from an angel to another; each door you push is hiding a treasure! I hope she feels the same way.
This was, I believe, the highlight of my year. It’s been an eventful year, what a great way to finish it! The lesson delivered to me this last Sunday of 2019 and that I want to carry over to 2020 and more. “Just breathe it’s not that bad.”
So I wish everyone and myself an amazing year. May this New Year be full of health, joy, happiness, love. May we all find peace, be peace, be love. May we grow with ease and in the moments when things are hard, when growth comes with challenges may we remember to just breathe because it’s not that bad!
Ps: Picture “Designed by pressfoto / Freepik”
