Regardless of how you may feel about the size, shape, or current condition of your body, how grateful are you for it? Do you realize how amazing your body is? Do you know that your body is working day and night to keep you well? Have you ever considered the role your body plays in your day to day activities? When is the last time you closely looked at the structure of your own hands, arms, feet, or legs? Do you or have you ever sat in gratitude about the extraordinary complexity and functionality of your body? Aren’t you happy that many of the most important functions of your body take place without you having to manage them?
While sitting in my office yesterday, I noticed some discomfort in my hand. It didn’t seem like much of anything but enough to get a little of my attention. By the time I got home I was in full blown pain and knew whatever was going on was getting worse. At this point, my full attention was on my hand and wrist.
Initially, I massaged both my hand and wrist without otherwise assessing either. After a few minutes I found myself examining the skin on my hand then the fold lines, and the veins. I felt the bones and joints, I even looked closely at my nails and cuticles. I slowly flexed and rotated my wrist and bent my fingers. I watched as they did what they normally do, without me ever giving it a single thought.
In that moment of contemplation, my focus shifted from the pain. I started to think more about all the things my hands have allowed me to do. With my hands, I have taken care of my babies and held the hands of dying patients. I’ve cooked and cleaned, wrote and typed millions of words. With my hands, I have planted flowers, colored and painted, washed dishes, folded clothes, combed my hair, and served thousands of people in the U.S and abroad. I even wondered how much of who I am today is directly related to the simple fact that I have had functional hands all my life.
I suddenly began feeling complete gratitude for the hands that I have taken for granted for most of my life. I considered that I have used these hands again and again and can’t remember if I had ever really thought about their greatness. Over my lifetime I have written down thousands of things I’ve been grateful for but I know for sure that I’ve never specifically written about my hands.
As a nurse, I understand pain is one of the body’s methods of communication. My pain was my hand’s way of communicating “something is wrong and I need the attention of the mind to help me”. I continued to massage and admire it for a while then decided to treat it with an ace bandage for support and intentional rest. I also took the opportunity to write a prayer of gratitude for my body.
The human body is intricately designed, from the cellular level to the bone structure, it is simply phenomenal. There is a continuous process called homeostasis, in which our body regulates its own internal environment. Your body temperature, blood sugar levels, hormone excretion, blood pressure, heart rate, and so many other internal factors are all regulated by the process of homeostasis and again most of us never give all this work a single thought. This process and various others are constantly taking place but unless you’ve studied the body, you may be completely oblivious them.
I think we have entered a time where overall human consciousness is beginning to expand. People are starting to have a more clear understanding of their mental role in health and well-being. Many people are realizing that the state of our minds and what we chose to focus upon has everything to do with the story of our lives. We are beginning to realize that the manifestations of our lives are the out-picturing of our thoughts. As author Louise L. Hay suggested there is a direct link between illness of the body and thought processes of the mind.
My hand pain gave me a “Well of course” moment. Well of course, I need to stay in gratitude for the amazement of my body, each and every part of it. This body has served me well and I pray that it continues to do so. I can’t think of one thing I’ve wanted to do in life that I couldn’t do because of a limitation in my body. I am indeed grateful for the complexity and functionality of my body including and particularly today, my hands.
The human body is a vessel carrying you through this earth time experience. Although there are parts of it that can be replaced, you only get one body per lifetime. Practice having a deep reverence for your body by treating it well, listening to its needs, and at the very least once in a while give it full and acknowledgment and appreciation.
Peace, Love, Blessings, & continued Learning!
