The Human Body

The human body is, to me, a miracle. Because of its exceptional qualities, I can extend my already long life by emphasizing healthy practices and diet. As a result, I get plenty of sleep (usually twelve hours each day), stick to strict diet (vegetables and fruits with meat used only for flavoring, and no sweets), and lift weights every other day for more than two hours. It works.

But the body itself is a miracle. We humans dominate the world because our bodies are superior to those of every other creature. Two of our exceptional features are our endlessly capable hands—which we use constantly for everything from feeding ourselves to writing to engaging in the arts—and, even more important, our brains, through which we do things that should be beyond us, like flying through the air and constantly advancing our civilization.

I know of no brief way to describe or define the human body. It’s a single structure, but it is made up of billions of smaller structures of four major kinds: cells, tissues, organs, and systems.

Taking only two of these, organs and systems, I learned through research that there are 79 known organs in the human body. These are connected or associated with ten major systems: skeletal, muscular, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, urinary, and the reproductive.

The human body, in short, is of a complexity far beyond my meagre understanding. The best I can do in my humility is to care for it and give it its due in nourishment, rest, and exercise. Beyond that, the body is a gift to me that I did nothing to earn. Despite my avowed agnosticism, I am forced to thank the deity for my existence.

The body has served me splendidly thus far. Let’s see how long I can keep it going.