A New Year's [Respiration] Resolution

By: Peter Cappon, MA, LLPC

Breathe In. Breathe Out.

What if I told you I knew of a very useful New Year’s resolution that you have a realistically high chance of completing? Does that sound too good to be true? I assure you it’s legitimate, so bear with me. For the past several years I have successfully completed my New Year’s resolutions for multiple years in a row. And you can too! Five years ago I committed that for that ensuing year I would do my best to successfully breathe, and that’s it. That’s right, it’s really that simple. Breathe in. Breathe out. Success. And I’ve done so every year since. Why in the world would I do this? Glad you asked.

A Whole Year of Breathing

It started out as somewhat of a joke to myself. At the time when I first made this choice, I felt overwhelmed by having too much going on in my life, and the thought of resolving to stick to almost anything in particular for a whole year sounded ridiculous. Resolving to breathe just felt playful and silly, with the intended implicit message that I was basically not committing to anything. Then I just moved on with my life and I didn’t think much about it. After a whole year had passed, and it came time to set another resolution I recalled that resolution again.

While remembering back to the year prior about what I thought was mostly a joke, it dawned on me that I had actually completed my New Year’s resolution for the first time in my life. Not only that, but I realized that it was surprisingly the most profoundly impactful resolution I had ever made. Go figure!

Taking Breathing for Granted

I was reminded that not everyone finds breathing to be as easy as I do, that some people in my life were indeed no longer breathing as they had passed away, and that it is a mistake to take something as elemental as breathing for granted. I was also struck in that moment by the realization that if breathing was the one thing I had accomplished in the entire year, I believe I would have done everything that was required of me to “earn” my own innate value as a human being. In other words, I was reminded that I matter.

I know that to some people this plan probably sounds like a slippery slope straight towards the pits of selfishness, laziness, and apathy. In my experience, though, there can be freedom in recognizing that nothing more is truly required of us than to breathe. Everything else is a bonus, and there is likely a lot of bonus. By returning to that starting point we can freely choose each day to prioritize the crafting of meaning and connection with those around us. If you don’t buy into those ideas, then I suppose whittling down what is “required” of you as a person to simply breathing would seem a little risky, or even just nonsensical. But if you think there might be some truth there, then what’s the risk? Will you join me this year in the aspiration to breath for another year? You find the year to be more fascinating than you think.

Let Me Know How It Works for You

If you’re one of the very few people who will read this post, and then actually decide to give it a try this year, would you please consider doing me a favor and let me know about it? I’d love to hear from you about why you like this idea or about how it goes for you. In the meantime enjoy the oxygen and Happy New Year!