A Moment of Awe

I invite you to lift one of your hands and really see it. Explore it with fascinated curiosity. See the variety of colors, the wrinkles, the lines and the blood vessels that can be seen as faint traces under your skin. See the different shapes of your fingers and how the palm of your hand is so different from the back of your hand. As strange as it may sound, to see your hand, to really receive it, can bring deep joy and meaning into your life.

This hand has been with you your whole life. This is the hand that patted your mother’s face or rubbed asparagus into your hair because you didn’t know yet that it was just for eating.  This Is the hand that gripped the handlebars of your tricycle and held the hand of the first person that you were attracted to. This too was the hand that may have been trembling a bit the first time you drove a car. *

Not only has your hand been here to help you your whole life but also your hand is truly an amazing creation.  For most of the time that life existed on this planet there was nothing that could pick life up and explore it. There were fins and paws and hoofs and feet, but no hands with opposing thumbs, and when this new expression of life first showed up, it was a major shift in evolution.

Your hand is such a complex and creative expression that Dr. J. Brownowski, in his series “The Ascent of Man” said that it takes more gray matter in your brain to run your hand than it takes to run your entire thoracic and abdominal cavities!  That means more of your brain is set aside for your hand than for your heart, your lungs, your digestive system and your reproductive system. Astounding!

Take a moment and realize that you have been endowed with the amazing, creative gift of hands. Bring your attention to your hand again and think of how much it has done for you!  It has written, gestured, caressed, typed, fed you, washed your hair, prepared things, sorted things, steered your car, weeded, held loved ones, held things, resisted things, brought things to you, pushed things away and created art works including those nonsensical drawings that you did when you were very young. And even if your hand is crippled, or some of your fingers are gone, or even your whole hand is gone, still realize how much your hand has done for you.

Can you, for this moment, be astounded that you are gifted with hands? As you allow your appreciation to grow for all that your hands have done for you I invite you to ask yourself “When was the last time I truly appreciated my hands?” If you are like most people, it has probably been a long while.

So, take a moment and allow appreciation to move through you. And then allow this appreciation to open you up to the realization that there so many things you have been gifted with that you take for granted, as all of us do. May this recognition of your hands and all they have done for you open you up to how much you have to be grateful for. Yes, you may be dealing with great challenges right now, but you are still being given the gift of life, the gift of breath and the amazing gift of your hands.

Be Light,
Mary

*Note: If your mind is saying that 98% of all the atoms are replaced every year so this isn’t the hand of my childhood, know that those new atoms are replaced into the basic structure of your hand. It may be bigger than the hand you had when you were a child, but it is still at its essence your hand!