6. Breathe. And to hell with the asteroid!

6. Breathe. Understand the most basic, and most important of needs.
The universe might implode in two days.
The asteroid could hit us, maybe hordes of alien invaders are gathering just outside your village,
getting ready to storm your sanctuary, But within this minute, you still need to breathe.

This item within the survival protocol was initially number one,
until I started adding stuff above it.
Fine, nothing can be more important than taking a deep breath within tough circumstances,
but conversely, many things can make us forget the “basics.”
At some point, I wanted to remove this from my Survival Protocol,
imagining it to be trite, and essentially just too obvious to include.
But with time, I realized, disregarding “the obvious, and mundane”
often encompasses many aspects of neglecting self-care.
I started seeing the inverse of forgetting as a cascading effect:
If I could “remember” to breathe with purpose,
I would also remember to get enough rest,
eat properly, drink enough water,
and make time to take myself out of toxic equations.
Because, let’s face it:
If the universe does implode in two days,
at least you’ll go out hydrated, rested,
and with a serene look that makes the aliens say,
“Wow, this one really had their act together.”
That will show them!

Love
Matt
2025 01 21

POSTSCRIPT: Read “facetious” into the last six lines. Somewhere in my SURPROT [I’m still thinking about a catchy name for my Survival Protocol – But ok, SURPROT won’t cut it], I mention the value of humour, levity, and being able to offset the weight and burden of our worst days by flirting with some humour , Not slapstick, sitcom stuff, or LOL events, but that interesting blend of pathos, recognizing absurdity, and “knowing, but still hanging in there!”