Two days ago, a dear friend of mine asked me to reflect on 'miracle'... the day was particularly hard on me, and my first reaction was.. 'Miracles.. they do not happen... they give us hope to keep going but they do not work...' Now this is how I always felt about miracles... something beautiful, heartwarming, comforting.. everyone would love to experience these but they do not exist.. having said this, I must also confess that there have been so many moments in everyday life that made me wonder.. how did this happen .. so effortlessly, with its innate sense of logic, no struggle, just a free flow...Did I not momentarily think of these moments as miracles? I guess I did but rational brain pushed me to brush that thought aside..
In typical way of description, miracles will be defined as something divine.... supernatural, act of god or a saint... but I think each one of us... has our own concept of what is a miracle.. I want to talk about my own understanding of miracles... just to confront my first reaction.. that miracles dont happen...
Lets see where are we heading.. As I look out of the window at this very moment, I see beautiful snowflakes coming down. Of course, we know the theory about snow and the weather and all that technical stuff, but I would still want to believe snowfall is a miracle.. when I see a rainbow in the sky, I jump with joy at this miraculous site. Trees blossoming in spring, waves of the ocean, star studded night sky, majestic mountains, the buds opening into flowers, the fragrances of wild forests, the colors all around us in the nature, the songs of the birds and the dance of the bees, the regularity of sunrise and sunset... these are miracles for me...
I remember when I was a first year medical student studying human anatomy, I was completely overwhelmed by the magic and miracle of human body, its super-efficient design and almost flawless functioning most of the time... No matter how much physiology and other disciplines tried to give us cellular, molecular and genetic basis of how human body functions, to me it still feels like a miracle....and more so now when I am struggling with some aspects of my health..I am in complete awe every time i think of beginning of human existence from two tiny cells and how it slowly creates this magical person. Every time I have assisted in delivering a baby, I always thought I was witnessing and actually being part of a miracle.. that first cry of the baby and its lungs filling up with air, marking first independent breath....the firm grip this newborn has on your finger, and you wonder where does this strength come from? you stroke the cheek of the baby and it starts suckling instantly... take the baby close to the mothers breast, it searches for the nipple and in no time starts suckling the milk.. how did the baby learn all this? Being part of this special moment of birth and witnessing the instant bond that often gets formed between the mother and the baby is no doubt a miracle for me..
I think each one of us is a miracle in ourselves, not just through the body we have but also by being who we are. Each one so different and diverse but there is still underlying connection through feelings and emotions... I will write about miracle of emotions some other time but here I want to talk a bit more about miracle of our body... I believe our body has innate wisdom, it knows what is best for us and when we are ready. I wish I would have loved my body more, from the nails of my toe to my gray hair. I wish I could have shown more respect and reverence to this beautiful gift i have received... I always took it for granted, I thought i knew what is it all about. I never listened to the subtle and strong signs that my body was sending out to me.. to slow down, to take care of myself... till the moment came when i could not take my body for granted any more.. when all my rational logic failed to explain the symptoms of my physical and emotional troubles... that was an eye opener... I had to do something.. i had to connect with my body, I had to learn to communicate with my body, i had to accept that she is a bit mad at me and wont accept my apologies so quickly... that is the process I am going through at this moment.. some days are easy but some are not... and you again wonder.. wow... what was I thinking when I believed, miracles don't exist...
I am going to share one very personal aspect of my life... it is about ability to fall asleep... Sleep as a physiological function is still largely unknown.. how do we fall asleep, why do we fall asleep.. what happens to the body and brain while we are asleep. We know for sure that sound sleep on everyday basis is absolute must for healthy life... but is it not a miracle that we can fall asleep and we can wake up and resume life each morning... are we ever afraid that the mechanism of waking up would fail one day and we would just continue to sleep.. I am not talking about death. Though many argue that death is eternal sleep.. for me that is far from sleep... Did you ever think that someday normal function of falling asleep will elude you completely? If there is anything about my life that I absolutely took for granted, it has to be my ability to sleep.. I was proud of my ability to fall asleep each night even on rocky surface.... very little i knew that someday, I would be actually struggling to fall asleep.. not for a day or two but for weeks and months.... I have learned to value sleep now when I actually lost it...
So this is what i want all of you to think about.. what is it in your life that you have been taking for granted? What is it that you thought was so ordinary and mundane that you never respected it? What is it that you always wanted to do or say but you never did? My guess is whatever are your answers for these questions, all you are talking about is some sort of miracle... in your own way, something divine, magical, beautiful and etheral.... don't wait too long... till you loose it....
I experienced a miracle last night...... I actually managed to sleep through the night.. there was ample twisting and turning.. but I slept... and I cant tell you in words what this miracle means for me....
so miracles do happen... all we need to do is to be aware of them... and to believe in them....
wishing you all loads of miracles in this festive month ahead....
In typical way of description, miracles will be defined as something divine.... supernatural, act of god or a saint... but I think each one of us... has our own concept of what is a miracle.. I want to talk about my own understanding of miracles... just to confront my first reaction.. that miracles dont happen...
Lets see where are we heading.. As I look out of the window at this very moment, I see beautiful snowflakes coming down. Of course, we know the theory about snow and the weather and all that technical stuff, but I would still want to believe snowfall is a miracle.. when I see a rainbow in the sky, I jump with joy at this miraculous site. Trees blossoming in spring, waves of the ocean, star studded night sky, majestic mountains, the buds opening into flowers, the fragrances of wild forests, the colors all around us in the nature, the songs of the birds and the dance of the bees, the regularity of sunrise and sunset... these are miracles for me...
I remember when I was a first year medical student studying human anatomy, I was completely overwhelmed by the magic and miracle of human body, its super-efficient design and almost flawless functioning most of the time... No matter how much physiology and other disciplines tried to give us cellular, molecular and genetic basis of how human body functions, to me it still feels like a miracle....and more so now when I am struggling with some aspects of my health..I am in complete awe every time i think of beginning of human existence from two tiny cells and how it slowly creates this magical person. Every time I have assisted in delivering a baby, I always thought I was witnessing and actually being part of a miracle.. that first cry of the baby and its lungs filling up with air, marking first independent breath....the firm grip this newborn has on your finger, and you wonder where does this strength come from? you stroke the cheek of the baby and it starts suckling instantly... take the baby close to the mothers breast, it searches for the nipple and in no time starts suckling the milk.. how did the baby learn all this? Being part of this special moment of birth and witnessing the instant bond that often gets formed between the mother and the baby is no doubt a miracle for me..
I think each one of us is a miracle in ourselves, not just through the body we have but also by being who we are. Each one so different and diverse but there is still underlying connection through feelings and emotions... I will write about miracle of emotions some other time but here I want to talk a bit more about miracle of our body... I believe our body has innate wisdom, it knows what is best for us and when we are ready. I wish I would have loved my body more, from the nails of my toe to my gray hair. I wish I could have shown more respect and reverence to this beautiful gift i have received... I always took it for granted, I thought i knew what is it all about. I never listened to the subtle and strong signs that my body was sending out to me.. to slow down, to take care of myself... till the moment came when i could not take my body for granted any more.. when all my rational logic failed to explain the symptoms of my physical and emotional troubles... that was an eye opener... I had to do something.. i had to connect with my body, I had to learn to communicate with my body, i had to accept that she is a bit mad at me and wont accept my apologies so quickly... that is the process I am going through at this moment.. some days are easy but some are not... and you again wonder.. wow... what was I thinking when I believed, miracles don't exist...
I am going to share one very personal aspect of my life... it is about ability to fall asleep... Sleep as a physiological function is still largely unknown.. how do we fall asleep, why do we fall asleep.. what happens to the body and brain while we are asleep. We know for sure that sound sleep on everyday basis is absolute must for healthy life... but is it not a miracle that we can fall asleep and we can wake up and resume life each morning... are we ever afraid that the mechanism of waking up would fail one day and we would just continue to sleep.. I am not talking about death. Though many argue that death is eternal sleep.. for me that is far from sleep... Did you ever think that someday normal function of falling asleep will elude you completely? If there is anything about my life that I absolutely took for granted, it has to be my ability to sleep.. I was proud of my ability to fall asleep each night even on rocky surface.... very little i knew that someday, I would be actually struggling to fall asleep.. not for a day or two but for weeks and months.... I have learned to value sleep now when I actually lost it...
So this is what i want all of you to think about.. what is it in your life that you have been taking for granted? What is it that you thought was so ordinary and mundane that you never respected it? What is it that you always wanted to do or say but you never did? My guess is whatever are your answers for these questions, all you are talking about is some sort of miracle... in your own way, something divine, magical, beautiful and etheral.... don't wait too long... till you loose it....
I experienced a miracle last night...... I actually managed to sleep through the night.. there was ample twisting and turning.. but I slept... and I cant tell you in words what this miracle means for me....
so miracles do happen... all we need to do is to be aware of them... and to believe in them....
wishing you all loads of miracles in this festive month ahead....
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