Gratitude
On an average an adult human body is
made of about 34 trillion cells. These 34 trillion cells have to function well
individually as per the mandate given to them (encoded in their DNA’a) and
cooperate with each other for a lifetime to enable a human body to
function. That means to keep us healthy, 34 trillion cells are at work
day in and day out with discipline and utmost restraint and we have at least
that many reasons to be grateful to God (since I kind of believe in God)) or
whatever else we might want to call the force or energy that created us.
If we add our parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, spouses, friends
and relatives to this list then we all surely have indeterminate, countless
reasons to be grateful to God simply because we are endowed with good health. We
don’t value the worth of good health, and don’t have the gratitude that we
should ideally be filled with, till the time it threatens to leave us.
One can’t but feel overwhelmed by the
sheer magnitude of effort that goes in to making every cell to function
properly and cooperate with trillion others for us to live a healthy life, We
have a mind and a heart which don’t rest at all; they keep working round the
clock. I marvel at this extremely complex, advanced machine that has so much
happening inside it all the time. Even if one out of these 34 trillion cells decides
not to follow the mandate and goes haywire, the very existence of one’s life
can be threatened. Each one of these 34 trillion cells has, in a way, a veto
power, but they do not exercise it in most cases. People by and large live long
and healthy lives, but do we realize how complicated this task is and how
calmly it is carried out day in and day out.
Since the time this fundamental fact
of life has sunk in to me, I dread to be ungrateful and even when I am running
after something, salivating after a material, worldly or other pursuit, I don’t
forget to express my gratitude for what I have. I am really grateful to
almighty that I have been granted a healthy life and a healthy family.
