Breathing, to me, serves to remind that in everything I do, and everywhere I go, the Spirit is with me. This is a powerful thing, having the breath of God in us at all times, and we cannot overlook that fact. There must be a reason for it. For one thing, we are called as Christians to live as Christ and to spread his word. This is very difficult.
Human beings are inclined to follow the path of least resistance.
It's so much easier to sit down and watch an episode of Ally McBeal than it is to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and bring good news to the weary of spirit. Those are the things we are called to do as Christians, and it takes a lot of courage to go out on the front lines to do them. Not only is the banner of Christ hard to bear, sometimes you feel like you're doing it alone. Sometimes you can't find God's face in the crowd, or hear his voice above the din. Like when you were a little kid and you lost your mom in the department store, that was just about the scariest thing you ever experienced up to that point in your young life.