I had this realization almost ten years back on a bus in Calcutta. I was going to college when a blind man got on the bus to ask for alms. It was bright early autumn day, the skies blue with cauliflower topped white clouds. That is the time I figured out that this man can't see how beautiful the sky is. A very cliched thought in my early twenties, but it made me grateful for my eyes. I agree my vision is not my strongest point but even my high myopic glasses would have been a boon to him who can't see.
The main thing in life that we take for granted is our own body. We know that it is the most important and priceless thing that could possibly be, yet we don't really care much about it. One reason being, we don't really know how things work there. And we never bother to figure out. I understand there is a reason for it to be abstracted in such a clever way, but it wouldn't do any harm to know our machinery better.
The human body is the greatest example of team work as well. It is overwhelming to think of how all the organs work together and if one is a little out of sync, how it affects the other ones. A self managing, self fixing team that needs barely any help from the outside. I realized about the importance of all the team members working together when my little finger on the right hand got severely cut after getting trapped in a part of our cooktop. I put a band aid around it and thought how much would a little finger bother me? But then I realized while trying to type the next day. It is difficult to eat with your fingers if one has a bandaid around it, it is difficult to get a proper grip on things. There is no reason to underestimate the little finger.
After my miscarriage, I was astonished to find that how little time it took the body to heal. It is like a very good self managing scrum team in software development picking up their team together after a failed release. Yes, it acknowledged that things didn't go right, but it wasted no time in cleaning that up and fixing it. Within a fortnight, the uterus again started its normal tasks.
When my retina detached and my right eye was patched up, I figured out that the left eye is doing more than its share and the right eye was feeling miserable. Mentally, I had a pep talk with my body. I told my right eye that it is ok to fail at times. I gave her some time to collect herself and rest and relax. On the other hand, I told my left eye that I understand and very much appreciate the extra work she is doing and I will take good care of both of them so that they can do their 50% share of work.
Long back when I was small and prone to scraping my knee, my mom used to tell me how under the crusty reddish brown skin, little tiny cells are busy patching up the scrape and within a few days new pink shiny skin will be ready under the crusty old skin.
The main thing in life that we take for granted is our own body. We know that it is the most important and priceless thing that could possibly be, yet we don't really care much about it. One reason being, we don't really know how things work there. And we never bother to figure out. I understand there is a reason for it to be abstracted in such a clever way, but it wouldn't do any harm to know our machinery better.
The human body is the greatest example of team work as well. It is overwhelming to think of how all the organs work together and if one is a little out of sync, how it affects the other ones. A self managing, self fixing team that needs barely any help from the outside. I realized about the importance of all the team members working together when my little finger on the right hand got severely cut after getting trapped in a part of our cooktop. I put a band aid around it and thought how much would a little finger bother me? But then I realized while trying to type the next day. It is difficult to eat with your fingers if one has a bandaid around it, it is difficult to get a proper grip on things. There is no reason to underestimate the little finger.
After my miscarriage, I was astonished to find that how little time it took the body to heal. It is like a very good self managing scrum team in software development picking up their team together after a failed release. Yes, it acknowledged that things didn't go right, but it wasted no time in cleaning that up and fixing it. Within a fortnight, the uterus again started its normal tasks.
When my retina detached and my right eye was patched up, I figured out that the left eye is doing more than its share and the right eye was feeling miserable. Mentally, I had a pep talk with my body. I told my right eye that it is ok to fail at times. I gave her some time to collect herself and rest and relax. On the other hand, I told my left eye that I understand and very much appreciate the extra work she is doing and I will take good care of both of them so that they can do their 50% share of work.
Long back when I was small and prone to scraping my knee, my mom used to tell me how under the crusty reddish brown skin, little tiny cells are busy patching up the scrape and within a few days new pink shiny skin will be ready under the crusty old skin.
Another part of our general health is our mind. We need to make sure that the mind stays healthy as well. There is a reason why we are supposed to pray for "mens sana in corpore sano". If you are unhappy, or cranky or irritated, even with the best of healths, you will not be able to attain much. There is no reason to be hard on yourself if you feel low. It is normal and it is ok. Nobody expects you to be happy all the time. It is difficult when for some people that indeed becomes the norm and if they are sad for some reason, everyone comes and asks them what the matter is. But even in that case, you can always respond with "I'm not really having the best day today." Most people will just say sorry and leave you be. Your close friends will be there for you if you want to talk. It works. And being honest works much better than putting up a fake happy face.
These are all learned from my personal experiences. After a major life changing event, it is natural to feel sad just like after a major surgery no one expects you to be able to run a marathon. Body and mind both need rest and a positive environment to thrive in. The best thing to do would be to provide that and never, never take a healthy human body (and mind) for granted.
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