Inhale/Exhale

There probably is no more common, instinctive behavior we have than breathing. We do not think about it, practice it or perfect it. We may be taught to breath more deeply as a n athlete, but the act of breathing is just what we do.

I heard breathing used as a metaphor today that really caught my attention. For several years I have been trying to find ways to explain the two meanings of the word "obligation." I wrote about it in my book "Stuck in Stinkin Thinkin" and I recently used the foot washing story in a recent blog on Servant Leadership.

However, it seems I still get blank stares and yawns from many people as if it just doesn't matter. Then why do i keep thinking it is fundamental to how we live? Breathing sure is !! Let's see what we can learn. Its worth still another try.

When we breath, we inhale, the air we take circulates from our lungs providing our body the oxygen it needs, returning to our lungs with air that is then exhaled. What our body exhales is directly related to what we inhale. We don't have to think about it or work at it, the air we exhale is what our body naturally produces from what we inhale.

We can use exhaling to understand the difference in the two words for obligation. We would see that in one instance, exhaling is a duty we have, an expectation of everyone who saw us inhale. We feel the pressure to work at properly exhaling whether we really want or like doing it, we may even feel a need to make the air we exhale something more or better than what we inhaled. The second meaning of obligation is that exhaling is an intricate part of breathing. We must exhale because we inhaled. We took in oxygen, our body knew exactly what to do with it, it was a natural and orderly process, not dependent on our ability or will. Finally, the health of the body and the quality of the air we exhaled was directly related to the nature of the air we inhaled.

In both types of obligation, we must exhale when we inhale. The difference is in the first meaning of obligation, we ought to because it is expected. In the second meaning of obligation, we ought to because the natural consequence of breathing demands that we let out as we take in. Which type of obligation do you think applies to inhale/exhale? I think its the second, duh!

As I mentioned in my recent blog, the second the type of obligation is also found in leadership. Followers predictably and instinctively exhale as they inhale from the leader. If they breath in corruption and greed, they produce corruption and greed. Breathing in selfless service produces a servant.

Inhale Social Exchange/ Exhale Duty

Inhale Grace - Exhale Praise!!

Now that's an obligation I can live for :-)