{"id":194,"date":"2012-10-09T02:32:10","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T02:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/458dd1ee-cf09-4fbc-98df-9ccedbfb4d6e"},"modified":"2012-10-09T02:32:10","modified_gmt":"2012-10-09T02:32:10","slug":"playing-with-words-aspiration-or-the-breathing-into-your-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/?p=194","title":{"rendered":"Playing With Words: Aspiration, or The Breathing Into Your Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Playing With Words<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Aspiration, or<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

The Breathing Into Your Dreams <\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n


<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

I have
\nalways been intrigued with words that have to do with breathing, and aspiration<\/i> is no different.  What intrigues me is that such words have
\ncome to mean other things that have to do with desire, success, <\/i>and creativity<\/i>.  Why is that? 
\nHow did this come to be?  Alas, it
\nis not the purpose of this little piece to answer such questions.  Instead I simply want to dive into one
\nparticular word related to the breath\u2014aspiration<\/i>–with
\nthe hopes it will inspire (another breathing word) you to keep striving to
\nreach your dreams and visions.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Aspiration<\/font><\/i> comes directly from the word aspirate<\/i>, which means, \u201can audible
\nbreath.\u201d  As far back as the 1500\u2019s this
\nmeant a certain kind of \u201cbreathing into something,\u201d as in a desire or striving
\nfor a goal.  Aspirate<\/i>, in turn, comes from aspire<\/i>,
\nwhich is Latin, aspirare<\/i>, meaning, \u201cto
\nbreathe.\u201d  And if we look a little deeper
\ninto aspirare<\/i>, we come to the root of
\nit all\u2014spiritus<\/i>—spirit<\/i>\u2014the breath of life.*<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What keys do
\nthese old meanings hold for us and the living of our dreams?  The first is the importance of breathing<\/i>\u2014literal, physical
\nbreathing.  The more we practice deep,
\nbelly breathing the clearer our heads become, the clearer our hearts become, the
\nmore focused and energized we become.  We
\nspend less time on frivolous resentments and disappointments.  We are able to keep moving with vitality.  Learning to breathe properly is the great key
\nto living ones dreams.  And there\u2019s more.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

The
\nimplication of the roots of aspiration<\/i>
\nis clear: breath is related to life (obviously), but we are not only referring
\nto staying alive physically.  We are
\ntalking about being truly alive to our dreams, or deepest, God-given
\ndesires.  Once we begin striving towards
\nthese our life blossoms into fullness. 
\nIt\u2019s the same when we see something beautiful, majestic, and our bodies
\ninvoluntarily inhale with a delicious element of surprise, and when we exhale,
\nwe feel a deep sense of relief and gratitude\u2014we feel fulfilled in that
\nmoment.  True beauty does that to us.  It\u2019s the same for living our dreams.  As we move towards them\u2014planning, striving,
\nplaying towards them, our breathing deepens in and out with the activity.  We feel inspired as the creativity flows in,
\nand we expire all of the doubts and fears as we move, step by step, towards our
\ngoal.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Interestingly,
\none of the old connotations of aspire<\/i>
\nis \u201cto pant with desire,\u201d as in longing and devotion.  <\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cAs the deer
\npanteth for water, so my soul longs for thee (Psalm 42:1).\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

The original
\nHebrew word for panteth<\/i>, means to \u201clong
\nfor.\u201d  So when we are living our dreams,
\nwhen we are on fire with passion for our dreams, when we are living the life we
\nlove, we will be panting with desire, we will be truly alive.  <\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And we can
\ngo still further. When we are living our dreams we are fulfilling the desires
\nof the Divine, for we are, each and every one of us, born to shine.  God desires that for us\u2014God breathes it into
\nus, like someone breathing into a flute. 
\nWe get to play our own tune that is based on the breath and music of the
\nDivine. One could say then all of our desires and dreams are one desire, one
\ndream\u2014to live as children of God.  As we
\nmove towards leading this life, the brighter we shine, the more fully we are
\nable to breathe\u2014freely, unconstricted, fully.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

And it all starts
\nwith breathing.  All aspirations, all
\naspiring and inspiration comes from breathing. 
\nSo breathe fully of your dreams, and dance.  Breathe fully the breath of the spirit of
\nGod\u2014it is a gift flowing through you, and watch your life spill over into an
\nabundance that is not only lavish, but never ending.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

*All
\netymology information comes from the excellent Online Etymology Dictionary<\/a><\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Playing With Words Aspiration, or The Breathing Into Your Dreams    I have always been intrigued with words that have to do with breathing, and aspiration is no different.  What intrigues me is that such words have come to mean other things that have to do with desire, success, and creativity.  Why is that?  How […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}