I was born with asthma. For 22 years, I’ve been an asthmatic. It’s as much a part of me as my brown eyes or all the freckles on my face. I’m that friend who doesn’t run or exercise. I won’t go on hikes or jogs with my friends, and if I do, it’s very rare. Even when I work out, I invite maybe two or three people of my closest friends to go with me because, quite frankly, I’m embarrassed about how limited I am by my asthma. My best friend likes to joke with me: "Of all the things you could do wrong, it’s breathing." But he's my best friend; he gets to joke with me like that.

I’ll tell you a not-so-secret secret: I can’t run a mile. But that’s not because I’m out of shape. My legs work fine. My lungs, on the other hand…

Lately, I’ve been attempting to get in shape because, honestly, I’ve gained some weight. No comments from the peanut gallery, please. I also want to be able to outrun zombies on the off chance the zombie apocalypse does happen. My lungs would get me killed pretty quickly. I’ve been attempting to build up my lungs. It’s been going good, not great. Having asthma means the airways are inflamed. Aggravated by exercise, the airways become even more inflamed and narrow, making it difficult to breathe.

I’ve learned that there are people who know nothing about asthma. Some random girl told me it wasn’t fair that I didn’t have to run during P.E. class. That was in middle school. I still remember that after a decade. I thought it wasn’t fair that she could actually run and not feel like she was going to keel over every time she tried.

I’ve since learned how to deal with insensitive people. My favorite thing to tell them now is, “Asthma is contagious, you know.” Don’t worry, it’s not contagious. I just like seeing the look of panic on their faces after they’ve told me something along the lines of, “Can’t you just use your inhaler?”

Sorry to disappoint you, but inhalers don’t work like they do in the movies. I can’t just take a puff or two of an inhaler and then be good to go. Probably one of the more famous movies that shows the use of inhalers incorrectly is "The Goonies."

Mikey is seen using his inhaler any time he is nervous. That’s not how it works. Inhalers should usually be used before exercise. If it’s needed during exercise, the user probably needs to sit down and rest. Inhalers are meant to open up airways so you can take bigger breaths of air, but it doesn’t magically make me able to breathe like normal again. I still need to rest and sit down. I can’t just get up and go, especially in places with higher elevation. I found that out the hard way in Yosemite.

Don’t ignore asthmatics when they say they can’t breathe. Don’t envy them for sitting out of P.E. class. When I run too hard I can feel my heart pounding, my head getting dizzy like I’m about to pass out and my chest getting tight. I don’t like feeling like that, so I don’t push myself to that point anymore. That might be after a minute of running, or after an entire lap if I’m lucky, but my lungs don’t work like yours. Telling me about how I should be able to run is on the same level as comparing your life to someone else’s when you know nothing about theirs.

Don’t compare your lungs to mine.

Don’t you think it worries me that I might not be able to run from an attacker confidently? That if the zombie apocalypse does happen, I’m going to die because I can barely run for a minute? That it’s harder for me to exercise and just be healthy because if I push myself too hard, I won’t be able to breathe? I’ve learned to accept and joke about my asthma because I’ve had it for 22 years. Try not breathing correctly for a minute.

The best way I’ve heard asthma described is: imagine being only able to breathe through a straw while playing a sport, trying to get more air in your lungs. There’s no other source of air coming in except through that straw. The only analogy I used to be able to think of is comparing a mile for you to a lap for me. That one lap makes me feel like how you feel when you’ve just run a mile.

For the writers who know what writer’s block is and the people who have trouble expressing their feelings, here’s a quote from T.S. Eliot that might make a good metaphor: “It's strange that words are so inadequate. Yet, like the asthmatic struggling for breath, so the lover must struggle for words.”