When I get overwhelmed, I hold my breath. I don’t know why, but it’s my body’s natural response. I didn’t even realize this until several years ago a coworker noticed and told me ‘Breathe Kim’. I didn’t take her suggestion well at the time and it made me angry.

Like telling me to calm down when I get worked up, I just get more worked up. Over the years I have come to appreciate her comment and realize she said it because she cared about me, and not that she was judging me as I originally thought.

This week, I notice I am holding my breath. My shoulders are up around my ears and I need to listen to my body. When I signed up for the MKE I thought to myself that this is doable, no problem. If you want something done, ask a busy person and boy am I busy.

Little did I know that my work life was going to go upside down with a merger and pending lay off when the company was sold. Now I am headed off for a four-day business trip. Plus all the normal overwhelm of learning so many new things all at once.

I keep reminding myself all week, ‘Well if there was ever a great time for a transformation this is it!’ Breathe Kim.

I feel like I jumped into the deep end of the pool and sank to the bottom. I can’t see which way is up with all the churning so I just stay suspended in the water waiting to float to the top, all while running out of air. This isn’t what I thought it would be. Why is this so hard for me? Breathe Kim.

As busy as I am, I can only do one thing at a time. One bite of the elephant at a time. One step at a time. One day at a time. One new exercise. One full breath at a time. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat. I will keep breathing because I matter and this is important.  Timing is everything and this is my time. 

Breathe