7 Principles of Blood for Life
You understand life, if you understand blood.
In every drop of my blood, there is life, and in every beat of my heart, there is love.
As I studied blood, I was amazed at the lessons it offered about life. Here are 7 principles of blood that can teach us how to live more deeply and meaningfully.
In our first gross anatomy class, the smell of formaldehyde made me nauseous. For others, it was the idea of all the cadavers that we would cut open to study the parts of the body.
Thud! Thud!
A couple of medical students around me fainted. Why does blood have this effect on us? When it's inside our bodies, it symbolizes life and protection. When it's outside, we sense danger and the possibility of death.
Blood is more than life — it's also a bond. "Blood brothers." Our forefathers shed their blood for our freedom. Blood is the bridge between life and sacrifice.
1. Life is the narrow way
The road less traveled is often the one that leads to the extraordinary.
We came out into this world through a very small, narrow path from our mothers. Such is the way of life. Each is unique, each in its time. Similar but different. Don't try to be like others. Try to be more like yourself. Walk your narrow path that only you can walk. No one can walk it for you.
People can guide you, encourage you, and inspire you to walk your own narrow path. The broad path to conform and be like everyone else is a path to ordinary life without depth or genuine hardship that shapes you into who you truly are.
That narrow way was painful, full of labour and birth pangs. Your mother went through it with you as she delivered you. Mother nature will deliver you, too, if you trust her and follow your heart.
2. Life sacrifices
A life of significance is built on the altar of selflessness.
I was curious about how many red blood cells (RBC) we had.
It's 20 trillion. Wow!
They account for 80% of the cells in our bodies. Why so many? They carry the oxygen from the air we breathe. There are 270 million hemoglobin per RBC, carrying eight oxygen atoms each... Unfathomable!
But did you know that each RBC sacrifices itself for every other cell in your body? They lose their nucleus--the blueprint for life — to deliver oxygen, required to produce energy, to every other cell in our body. That's why RBCs look like donuts — no fat nucleus in the middle.
RBCs deliver oxygen in tiny blood vessels called capillaries that are 5 micrometres wide. At 8 micrometres wide, RBCs normally wouldn't 'fit', but because they have no nucleus, they are flexible and can 'bend' into the capillaries. They sacrifice to serve all the other cells in your body.
Without oxygen, we would lose our life in just 5 minutes.
Imagine giving up a part of yourself so that others may thrive. That's a sacrifice without ego, a lesson in humility and service. This is a transcending life.
3. Life flows
Success is not about speed but about consistent, steady flow in the right direction.
Blood must flow for human life to continue. Once blood stops, clots form, leading to strokes or heart attacks.
The business analogy to blood is cash. Cash flow is essential for a business's life. Like water, it flows from areas of abundance to need and then back to abundance. The rich who give to the poor and where there is need receive more in return. But cash is even more valuable with intangible wealth like health, love, and the human spirit.
For our bodies, we call the 'extreme' version of flow exercise. The 'accessible' version we call 'movement'. The 'standard' version we call walking and stretching. Move and flow to be nourished and grow. It is the same for the soul and spirit.
4. Life removes toxicity
Before you can fill your life with goodness, you have to empty it of toxins.
Imagine if we had no toilets, sewage, garbage trucks or landfills. While the life-giving nourishment of oxygen in our blood is essential, removing waste is just as essential.
A basic form of waste in the human body is carbon dioxide, which we breathe out. During the pandemic, I was running with an N95 mask. As I arrived at the restaurant to reserve a table for my family, I fainted — too much carbon dioxide built up, and I was breathing in my CO₂ for ten-ish minutes.
To remove toxicity from your mind, rid yourself of negative thoughts, regrets, and worry. Rid your spirit of sin and anger in your relationships. Purify your being from the inside out.
5. Life protects
Our immune system is the guardian of our body. Our principles are the guardians of our soul.
We also have white blood cells (WBC), which are part of our immune system. They protect us from foreign invaders like viruses, bacteria, and parasites that can infect our bodies. Some are memory cells that produce antibodies — guards who remember the 'most wanted list'. Others are natural killer cells that act like assassins, taking out dangerous intruders.
We have so many bacteria in our bodies- in our guts, skin and mouths. Our immune system has learned how to live symbiotically with other organisms inside our bodies, and the wise have learned to do so with nature.
Heed the lessons of our immune system. Can we protect and serve our fellow humans and find ways to make peace and forgive instead of exact revenge and war?
1:1 Meeting with You
I'd like to do a 30-minute 1:1 with you.
Email me your thoughts and feedback each week, and I'll choose someone each month for a 1:1. Thanks so much. I appreciate your feedback and thoughts. It fuels me to write each week, knowing it is planting seeds in your soul.
6. Life is integrity
Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (1940-)
Platelets maintain the structural integrity of our blood vessels so that we don't lose blood. Remember your nose bleeds? Females menstruate each month to prepare the uterus for possible life. Life requires sacrifice, preparation, and repair. The highways of life must be maintained.
For our true selves, which reside in our psyche (soul/mind) and spirit, we must maintain our character. We fall short daily, but we must aspire to repair that which is hurt and harmed in ourselves, as well as the damage which we have done to others through our thoughts, words, and actions.
Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)
7. Life rests
Rest is not idleness. It is the soul’s way of recharging for its next great move.
The lungs inspire air and then relax to expire. The heart beats to move blood but then rests to fill itself. The eyes see but then blink. The body moves actively but then must rest. Even God, who created the world in six days, rested on the seventh day, the Sabbath.
There is not enough blood in our bodies to actively supply every single cell. We only have 5L of blood, like a big jug of water. That's it. Blood is a scarce resource. The air, liquids, and food we consume become our blood. We must be very careful what we allow into our blood, for it becomes our body. It affects our mind and our spirit.
We must allow our bodies to rest, but our souls, minds, and spirits also need rest.
The body needs rest to restore, the mind needs peace to think, and the soul needs stillness to feel.
My Life Questions:
To ask the right question is already half the solution to a problem.
Carl Jung (1875-1961)
1. What life lesson has blood taught you?
I write this newsletter and receive some feedback but I'd love to get more feedback so I can become better as a person, as a writer and for you.
My Life Lessons Then (from my younger self):
The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.
Charles Du Bos (1882–1939)
1. Life is so precious but I often take each day for granted.
I thought I had a lot of time, but the days, months and years have passed by quickly.
2. I mostly sought my own goals and interests, not so much others.
First is surviving, then thriving--but to transcend, one must find and know oneself so that one can be of service to others.
3. Life requires sacrifice and so many people sacrificed their lives for me and believed in me.
My parents, family, forefathers and foremothers, compatriots, friends and Lord, God, my Saviour.
I want to do the same for others.
Life Advice Now (from my present 54 year old self):
Life is short, and it’s up to you to make it sweet.
Sarah Louise Delany (1889-1999)
1. Life is short and very precious.
I wish to be extraordinary by living a life with a greater vision than just of myself. For the future generation. With the remaining time I have left on this earth, I will live it with all my heart and with all my might.
My prevailing thought: Strong body. Stronger mind. Strongest spirit.
2. Life is long and full of opportunities that must be focused and chosen.
If I find only one or a handful of things to focus on, there is a lifetime, which we think of as very long, to do all that is truly put into my heart to inspire others to be their true selves and live brightly like lights in this world.
3. Life is eternal.
We will live on into eternity, like a star that passed a while ago, but its light still shines forth for many years. This is our legacy. We build our legacy each day. It's not at the end. It's from the beginning. It's our life story. You do matter. You do have a legacy. Live it.
Next week:
The Few Things that Make you Unique
What are you a triathlete of? Explore your blend of unique abilities that make you truly unique.
Why fit in when you were born to stand out?
Dr. Seuss (1904-1991)
See you next Thursday!
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