Wisdom Wednesdays

Have you ever tried to see how long you could hold your breath? C’mon… admit it. Everyone has done it. The most I’d ever heard any of my friends last was around two minutes or so. So I almost swallowed my tongue with surprise when I read this headline: How I Held My Breath for 17 Minutes

You have to watch this talk by illusionist David Blaine. And no, this was no illusion. What you see is what you get. He really did hold his breath under water for 17 minutes.

How? Well, for one, his CO2 tolerance training allowed him to stay underwater way longer than normal. This is yet another proof that we can do anything we set our mind to.

“I really thought I was not going to make it,” he said afterwards. “At minute 12 I felt the pain coming, and by minute 14 it was overwhelming. This was a whole other level of pain. I still feel as if somebody hit me in the stomach with the hardest punch they could.”

It’s a little lengthy, but make the time. Even if you watch it on your lunch hour. Amazing demonstration of the process and mindset of someone who asks “How can I do this? rather than “Can I do this?”