Breathe.and.Release

Breathe Inspiration

2009-12-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

Breathe-and-Release just wanted to take a few moments and wish everyone the best for the Holiday Season. Remember.. what you have should never be taken for granted in life. People come and go as do material objects. Don't forget this.. bring disagreements to an end, love one another and just Breathe. Holidays can be a little hectic with all the running around and dinners here and there.. Just enjoy this. Try not to worry so much, just Release..

Remember in times like these, there are those who are less fortunate. Those with no families and those with no homes. They need the most love during these times. PLEASE reach out and appreciate these people. Show them their purpose in life and show them how to Breathe-and-Release. They need it more than ever during the holidays and the winter.

While thinking of your New Years resolution for 2010.. Maybe you could consider including others in this resolution. Reach out and touch someone. Why not make it a goal to bring a homeless person one hot meal a week, or maybe even just a warm hot chocolate or a coffee from the local restaurant. Be their friend and talk to them for a couple minutes. Do something to show them... they count. They ARE people, and they have HOPE.. Even if it's just the hope you have for them and they have no hope left for themselves... Inspire them. They need it.

Thank you so much!! Happy Holidays to everyone!!
Breathe-and-Release

PLEASE use the space below to write your New Years Resolution or your life inspirations.. Who knows.. they may inspire others as well!

Shay's Story

2009-11-20T04:58:00.000-08:00

At a fund-raising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:

'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature
does, is done with perfection.

Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He
cannot understand things as other children do.

Where is the natural order of things in my son?'

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who
was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to
realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other
people treat that child.'

Then he told the following story:

Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were
playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew
that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as
a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would
give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted
by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting
much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said,
'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he
can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile,
put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my
heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs
but was still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in
the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic
just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved
to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run
was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance
to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was
all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat
properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing

that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life,

moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly
towards Shay.

As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground
ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily
thrown the ball to the first baseman.

Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the
game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's
head, out of reach of all team mates.

Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run

to first! Run to first!'

Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to
first base.

He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'

Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming
and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder
had the ball . the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance
to be the hero for his team.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag,
but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw
the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him
circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help
him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to
third! Shay, run to third!'

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the
spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero

who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team

'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his
face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and
humanity into this world'.

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having
never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and
seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY:

We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second
thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people
hesitate.

The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through
cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in
our schools and workplaces.

If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that
you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the
'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message Well, the person who sent

you this believes that we all can make a difference.

We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help
realize the 'natural order of things.'

So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present
us with a choice:

Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass
up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the
process?

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's
least fortunate amongst them.

Share this with someone who might appreciate it. Let's try to show some kindness

as we celebrate Thanksgiving.

May your day, be a Shay Day.

St. Baldrick's Foundation

2009-10-07T04:42:00.000-07:00

The St. Baldrick's Foundation is the world's largest volunteer-driven fundraising event for childhood cancer research. The way it works is that a person volunteers to shave their head in solidarity of children with cancer, and then request that friends and family make donations to contribute.

You Can read more about them, people involved, and how it all began in their about section. This is such an amazing foundation. They have tens of thousands of people who volunteer. I don't know anyone personally that has volunteered at one of their events, but I do know how much one can inspire people with this act of love.

My husbands mother was recently diagnosed with cancer and it was one of her hardest struggles to lose her hair. She said she didn't really feel like a woman anymore. My husband had long beautiful hair and while she was in the hospital and just found out about everything.. He promised her that if she had to lose her hair, he would shave his head as well. Well... She went through radiation for a few weeks and her hair began to fall out, as the doctors told her it would. She came home one day from an appointment and asked her youngest son who is 17 years old to shave her head. She just couldn't handle her hair falling out anymore. So he did it like she requested, and then my husband went right after her. She was so upset, but him doing that for her was one of the biggest acts of love I have ever experienced in my life. It was amazing!

I know this is not about a child's story... but one could imagine the impact on that little childs life if someone were to do the same act of love for them.

Once again.... this is an amazing foundation. If you know anyone that would want to volunteer please direct them to this site. Imagine the impact you could create on one of these small little survivors.

Below are before and afters of my husband:

Announcement

2009-10-05T05:15:00.000-07:00

Breathe-and-Release has updated a lot of things on the Myspace profile. We have added banners to use on your profile such as ones to the left on this blog. PLEASE add them to everything you can get your digital hands on :} We have also added quite a few help links in the blog area on our profile. If you know of any more please leave them in a comment in that blog and they will be added. We accept almost any type of help links..

Also, we are still growing pretty steadily on Facebook. Our cause page has slowed a little since we first started.. but it still continues to get members each week. So please continue to do a great job in spreading the word. We also wanted to take the time out to thank everyone for helping and spreading the word. The start of this foundation has been a little rocky, but we are extremely proud of how many members have reached out and touched us by offering their help as well as their support. Thank you all so much again... You are what creates this foundation. :}

On another note, we are hoping to get a basic site up and running within the next couple of months. We know it has been quite some time now, and we really owe it to everyone to get it up and running. It will not be a huge site in the beginning, but we are hoping to get a basic profile, an updates blog a way to make donations, and also a forum so that everyone can talk to each other. We are also in the process of getting stickers and t-shirts designed. We currently have buttons/flyers available so if interested please write to us a breathe.and.release@gmail.com

Thank you so much for your time!! Thank you all again for the great work and for the support!!!

Breathe-and-Release

Come See us Oct. 24th!

2009-10-02T06:01:00.000-07:00

On October 24th you should all come down to the Motorcycle Music Fest. All proceeds for the event are going to the Special Olympics. There is no fee to enter the Music fest!! There will be food, games, music and lots of other fun stuff to do all day!! The food and games are not free but they are extremely reasonable prices!! We will be set up at a table selling items to collect donations for the foundation, so come see us!!! See the Flyers below for more details!!

Online Auctions

2009-09-17T05:54:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. We are trying to put together some online auctions for donations. If you have anyone or know of anyone or a company that would be willing to make a donation to this, can you please either pass us along to them or let us know about them and we will contact them directly. We are accepting almost any type of item this time, so PLEASE help us out!! It will be GREATLY approeciated!!!

Also, of you haven't yet. Add our Facebook Profile, cause on Facebook (link on Profile), our myspace page and follow us on Twitter!!!

We will return the favor!!

Thanks to everyone again, for all your support!

PLEASE spread the word and pass us around!!!

Monster Mania

2009-08-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

As some may know.. We recently had a table at the Monster Mania Convention in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. We just wanted to update everyone on this. We had a ton of fun. We met a lot of people over the weekend who were very interested in what we do and they really wanted to help us out. We heard so many stories. It was just amazing. It reminded us what we are doing this for... as if we could ever forget.

We were able to give out more than a hundred fliers and business cards. We also even received some of our first donations! There was a huge variety of people that were interested. It was incredible. One small girl, probably about 15 years old... She bought one of our pin-back buttons (50 cent donation) for $10. It was great, she was so excited about it and told us how we inspire her. We were so proud and happy to be at Monster Mania, we cannot wait to go back in March! P.S. Even Derek Mears from the most recent Friday the 13th wanted to take a flier and business card! He was one of the kindest people.

This world can be an amazing place for those who may have lost themselves in life. We are all capable of helping people from all different areas in life. We can help them by teaching them to breathe-and-release.

Welcome

2009-07-29T05:34:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to the new breathe.and.release blog. We are currently going to be using this blog until the website is up and running. Hopefully that doesn't take long.

Let us tell you a little about what we do. We are basically here just to help you with anything you need that is within our reach. We are an aspiring foundation longing to help people who may have become lost in life due to traumatic experiences.

To the left of this blog you will find sections for help sites as well as other sites where you can find us. Currently all we have is a myspace profile and a facebook group. PLEASE add us on both!! On our myspace, you will find a lot more information about what we do, our mission statement and also the story that got us started. Also... look for us on twitter. We have purchased the website, We just need to find the time to get the site designed and put it up. We are really hoping for that to happen in the next month or two.

If you have any questions or need any help with anything you may not be able to find on our myspace or maybe you may have some suggestions to help us make our aspiring foundation better for other.. PLEASE do not hesitate to contact us. Our email is breathe.and.release@gmail.com

We are really looking forward to to hearing from everyone. We have been trying to get this foundation started for some time now. It is finally starting to move.