Breathe

I used to be asthmatic. I tell people I have childhood asthma  because I've stopped using the inhaler since I was 13.
But every now and then, it surfaces. My wheezies, I call them.
Most of the time, they're really mild.

But mild as they are, they do hurt.

Have you ever felt that? The tightness in your chest that causes you to not think about anything else except the knot in your lungs? The struggle to get a decent breath in but only able to do it halfway?
And the sound of the pain. The slow fluty almost inaudible sound of your struggle, each time you inhale. Almost inaudible as your lungs scream for air.

I get my wheezies at approximately the 18th minute in my runs. I get my wheezies at exactly the same location at every run. It's like every run I start, I anticipate the buildup to the 18th minute.
It doesn't matter what I did before the run, what I ate or drank, whether I've warmed up or
not. It will hit me, bam! almost everytime at the 18th minute.


But I don't stop, even if my lungs beg me to.
I run it out. 2 breaths in and 2 breaths out. Rinse and repeat.
Put one foot in front of the other. Rinse and repeat.

Thankfully my ordeal will end 5 minutes after. 5 long minutes after.
And then I'm home free.

Is having the wheezies the pits? Yep.
But it's a reminder not to take my health for granted. It makes me grateful of whatever health condition I have, I have it easy compared to others.

As painful as it is, it will pass.
In life too, whatever hardship we face, it will pass.
The long uphill climb, it will pass.
It will all pass and we will all eventually be home free.
















*ahkak terasa nak jiwang hari ni yeww