One heartbeat away

I recently had an echocardiogram that reaffirms my awe of the human body. Lying in the dark, watching the images on the screen, I was fascinated to see my own beating heart. It was pumping and working away so hard; amazingly I had the ability to just watch it and be grateful. I said out loud "thank you little heart - keep going - don't stop". The technician must have thought I was a bit crazy. To think my whole existence depends on a muscle to keep going. It gets no rest, no good-days and bad-days, no vacations - just non-stop pumping. I think about how often I get a muscle leg cramp or foot cramp. My heart is just a muscle, too. What if it decides to just cramp up or have a weird glitch?

All our lives hang in the balance of tissues and muscles getting signals to continue on. That is sobering. Our bodies are so wonderfully made. They take so much abuse and just keep on doing what they do - usually without much thought from us. Yet, we often are shocked when something is wrong or a disease infiltrates. But when looking at all the things that can go wrong with the human body, it's a wonder any of us are well at all. We are really just at the mercy of the next heartbeat or the next breath.

So a big shout out to my heart....and yours...for doing such a marvelous job. KEEP ON beating little hearts....we are so grateful.



Note - In case you were wondering, Heart Disease runs in our family, and we have lost a few dear, loved ones because of that condition. I recently had some heart 'rhythm' issues come up, so I am getting that checked out. The best I can do is eat responsibly, keep moving, and be aware of any changes. Please take care of yourself, be kind to your body, and I'll do the same.