Adaptability
Perhaps the greatest attribute that we human beings have is our ability to adapt to our environment. We are clearly a pretty diverse looking bunch. If you were to stand a Pygmy from the Congo next to an Icelandic giant then you would be forgiven for thinking that they were a different species all together. However this was not always the case. The generally accepted theory of evolution is that we as a species moved out of Africa around 100,000 years ago. This tiny, similar-looking, population would have spread out around the globe and evolved and adapted to their surroundings. In less sunny climates they would have lost their black skin pigmentation, so that they could absorb more light to create vitamin D. In mountainous regions they would have become shorter and stockier to cope with the harsh conditions and in cold and damp climates they would have gained a layer of sub-cutaneous fat to keep them warm.
This has led us to the rich, varied and diverse world that we now live in. However it is not just in an evolutionary sense that humans show the ability to change. We can have people of all shapes and sizes from the same ethnic background, sometimes even within the same family. What is paramount is what we decide to do with our bodies. If you want to become a weight-lifter and decide to lift weights all day, then your body will adapt and change to become the most efficient weight-lifter it can be. Similarly, if you want to be a beer drinker and drink beer all day, then the body will transform itself into the perfect shaped vessel for consuming beer. The same thing can be said for whatever it is you choose to do, whether it is Tai Chi or watching TV, your miraculous body will morph itself in to being the most efficient vehicle to carry out what is required of it.
That is until things start to go wrong. Until it can no longer adapt. Until there is no longer any change. If you continue to lift those weights, heavier and heavier, one day a muscle may pop or a tendon will snap. If you continue to drink the beer, day after day, eventually that liver is going to give up. What is needed is to change things up a little. Those bulging muscles should be complimented with some gentle stretching, that bulging belly should be tempered with some cardio-vascular exercise. The human body thrives on change. The end of change means an end to life.
Modern science has begun to realise that the relationship between a human and its environment, exists on a much deeper level than previously thought. The emerging study of epigenetics looks at how environmental influences, our experiences, actually affects the expression of our genes. No longer is our genetic code seen to be set in stone. What is around us, what happens to us and possibly even what we believe, all effect the way in which our DNA manifests. You may well be born with a certain gene that causes a certain illness but it is the environment in which you live that determines whether or not it occurs. The nature or nurture debate is over. It is always both. We have more control over our bodies than we realise and the choices that we make will be passed on to our children and our children’s children via this two way genetic code.
Which leads us to question, just what do we want use our bodies for? The Buddhist mountain hermit may see it is as a vehicle that needs to be transcended, whilst the rampant hedonist would see it as something to be experienced and enjoyed. Neither is more right than the other and most of us lie somewhere along that sliding scale in-between. It is reassuring to know that whatever path we choose, our bodies will do their utmost to adapt, so that we may experience life in its full varied glory.