The awesomeness of ourselves

When we think deep about everything in this temporary world, we would almost always be amazed by the processes that they undergo. Whether it is the water cycle, the biosynthesis of compounds in plants, the gene expression process, or whatever there is to observe, are super complex mechanisms that would probably take forever for us to fully understand.

And to tell the truth, we need not look far to be amazed. In fact, by observing our own selves, we can also find all kinds of awesomeness. One example is our heart. The way it beats on, pumping a staggering amount of blood everyday (about 7000 liters or more!!). Or our eyes, the perfect photographic tool, outperforming even the highest tech camera. Our lungs, feet, hands, the brain, our other organs, and how complex the processes that are involved in their use, are all so amazing. In fact, there are still so many things that we cannot answer about them.

And not to forget the small details, such as how we blink our eyes. This small action that we sometimes take for granted keeps our eyes moist and cleans it from all kinds of dirtiness. Imagine if our muscles controlling how to blink lost its ability to function properly (as many people experience). We would always need to put eye drops to moisten it and find a way to hold it up so that it doesn’t close. How magnificent is this one small act!

There is something in common with many of the important physiological processes in our body, which is: “we don’t think about doing them.” Everything is automated at the highest precision. We don’t tell our heart to pump blood. We don’t tell our eyes to blink. We don’t even think about breathing. They just happen without us being aware of them.

Thus, although the above title might suggest in being an arrogant statement, it’s actually the total opposite. Everything inside of us is so awesome, so amazing, yet the truth is, we don’t contribute anything in many of its processes. This fact then begs us to think deeply about ourselves and make us be grateful with whatever we have.

How time flies... Yet how do we use it?

There is no denying that people tend to waste the greatest asset that they have, “time”. Although men dream about time travel, it is most likely nothing but fantasy and there is no way to go back. Discovery.com recently posted news regarding this, reporting that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, thus making time travel impossible, opposite to the sci-fi movies and books which are written about it. Whether this is true or not, there is still room for debate. But nevertheless, for the time being, time is ticking, passing us by, and nobody can give it back to us.

The one second that just passed will never ever be returned. It’s gone, and we have either benefited from it, or wasted it. We ourselves know better about how we spend our time. Furthermore, all of us have our criteria for what is wasteful and what is beneficial. And I think it’s a good idea to reexamine the things that we do and categorize them once again.

In the Qur’an, God talks extensively about time. In fact, as it having a beginning, it will also have an end. And the end of time of this ephemeral world is pictured vividly in the Islamic tradition, where people will be in the state of confusion. So horrifying will the end of time be, the mother will forget about her suckling baby, and the pregnant women will literally drop what they are conceiving. The end of time for those who do not experience this horrific day is the time of death. Through death, we will be separated from our current perception of time, and experience it in a whole new way.

But it’s not enough to only be horrified by what will happen. Rather, we need to get our act straight and be prepared for it. In truth, the norm is, every effort that we do is wasteful, EXCEPT the efforts that we do for good deeds, advising people towards justice, patience, and every other thing that supports these matters, while accompanying them with faith. Only by committing ourselves towards avoiding all that are wasteful will we truly become people who appreciate time. And indeed one day, we will all see the fruits of what we worked for, whether they were truly beneficial for us or not.