What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it's all About???

National Nasal-Passage Appreciation Week

Ok, so last Sunday night, as I was attempting a goal during an indoor soccer game, a curious thing happened: instead of going into the goal as I had planned, the ball deflected off the goalie's knee and smacked right back into the right side of my nose/mouth/cheek. Now, having played soccer for 13 years I've seen my share of injuries (specifically of a nose-like nature), so my first thought was to check for gushing blood. I was comforted to find merely a small trickle, and resolved not to cry as it would delay the essential blood-clotting process occurring deep within my nasal passage. I iced the nose for about 10 minutes before hopping back into the game (which we lost 6-1, but who's counting?).

Anyway, the pain increased as the evening went on (perhaps after the endorphins faded), and my attempts for sleep could only be described as "fitful." As I lay in bed, imagining little white blood and red blood cells vying their way through the cramped highway of my bruised nasal capillaries, it occurred to me how rarely I thank my body for all the little processes it completes. Sure, we're all somewhat in tune with our stomachs (well, me more than others, but that's a story for another day) and muscles to some extent, but what about all the autonomic processes going on every day that we can't even perceive?

Of course, it would take hours to mentally address each process on an individual basis, so it's just not realistic to expect I'll be grateful to everything from my hippocampus (area of brain that helps with memory, among other things) to my cytoplasm (fluid in each cell that holds the organelles in place) each day...so, what to do, I asked myself? Suddenly, it hit me - just as we have "National Secretary Appreciation Week," we should have an appreciation week for different parts of the body! We all know that feeling when we get paper cuts on our pinkie fingers - you really don't appreciate it until it's gone. Thus, I hereby proclaim this week, "National Nasal-Passage Appreciation Week," in honor of my healing nose. Now, what to thank next week... | posted by Cheryl, 10/04/2005 10:12:00 AM