Sometimes in life, there is a point where you are forced to stop and take a moment to look back and review all the things that you have been doing in your everyday life. It is in this moment that you are granted the space of realizing the truly important things in life: to breathe, smile, and live.
Breathing is the most essential action, in order to survive. If we stop breathing, we cannot last more than a few minutes, and we will die. We live in this world submerged in a nonstop running from one thing to another, doing several things at the same time, frequently jumping from one place to another physically or virtually, with the help of technology, which makes us very busy, worrying about the next thing on our list, and incapable of seeing all things complete at the end of the day. This way of living makes us forget to breathe, to really inhale and fill our lungs with oxygen.
It is necessary that we learn to breathe in a conscious, correct way that will fill us with energy, not only for our bodies, but for our spirits, remembering that when the Creator formed us, He blew his breath of life into mankind, and every time a child is born, the first concern of doctors is the baby’s breath. Therefore, take a deep breath; inhale; hold it; count one, two, three; and release.
Smile: Keep in your heart and mind all the beautiful memories that you can treasure and use when things go wrong; hold fast to all your hopes and dreams. Know that everything will pass, and it passes for a reason. Mostly all the stressful situations will be seen better with a smile.
Live like there will be no tomorrow, as if this will be the last day of your life, with the joy of your best day, with the passion of your best desire, with the enchantment of your first love.
Live every time you cry, every time you laugh, and when you love and hope. Do not lose time hating too much or repeating things that do not work. Try new things and take risks; go far for adventures that you’ve never tried before. Then breathe slowly, smile frequently, do not delay till you get a diagnosis to understand the message of living: Live for you, for them, for me.
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Narcisa Paredes was born in 1968 in Ecuador, where she married and had two daughters. In 1994, she immigrated to New York, where she gave birth to her third daughter, Carolina. Now fighting breast cancer for the second time, Narcisa Parades writes because she says it opens her mind, helps her to express her deepest feelings, and gives her hope and peace. She also says she is inspired by Frida Kahlo, who painted through her pain. Narcisa Parades improves her writing skills at Hunter College’s SPELL Program, with teacher Ruby Taylor MacBride.