How OLD are you?

Let me start with a very personal question- How OLD are you? 

15 years? 20? 30? 40? Or 50? 

Without even guessing what your answer would be, I can say that you are wrong. 

The options I have for you are answers you would not even believe!

Think of this in terms of pure Science. 

Your body is made up of atoms at the simplest level, which, for example, are Hydrogen and Oxygen. 

Both of these are the components of water, which makes up 70% of our physical body. 

Now, how old do you think these atoms are? As old as you? No way! 

These atoms are millions of years old, and have been changing form and shape as time passes, whether as water, food, air or parts of your body. So, in a way, more than 70% of your body is millions of years old. Believe it. 

If you don't want to, here's another option- another answer that will stun you. 

How often do you breathe? Let’s estimate every breathing cycle to be three seconds long. Every three seconds, old and waste particles from your body are thrown out through your breath, and fresh, new air is inhaled. After that follow new bio-chemical reactions, generation of new cells and organic bodies, repairing of damaged cells and the cycle thus continues. So the second answer is three seconds... 

Which answer would you prefer?

The above theory may sound a bit too idealistic when you look at your solid, visible, tangible body . 

But hold on. Just pause for a moment and look beyond what your naked eye can see. 

What you see is not what really is. 

Beneath your skin, there are billions of tiny chemical reactions occurring every second that produce little sparks of energy to run your system. 

When you cut or wound yourself, something miraculous takes place- self healing. 

When you eat, the potatoes and rice, pizza and soda, chocolates and ice creams becomes a part of your blood, brain, skin, muscle, hair and so much more... 

Have you ever seen a machine that could perform such a feat? 

A machine that can match the sheer power and genius of the human body is yet to be conceived, and might never be. 

The skin replaces itself every month, the stomach lining every five days, the skeleton every three months, and over 98% of the atoms in your body will be new in one year’s time. 

Science has solid proof of this. 

Look beyond. 

Close your eyes and feel the subtle, all pervasive, super-intelligent life force vibrating through your body. 

It is this Life force or prana as the ancient Sanskrit texts call it, that is really YOU. 

Regular practitioners of Yoga and Meditation can feel the subtle life-force pulsating within them and touching every cell of their body, keeping them alive.

It is this that drives you through every passing day, makes you feel happy or sad, tells you if you are hungry or sleepy, and is still working when you are too busy in your daily routines to think about your body's functions. 

When you compare the size of the Nucleus of the atom to the entire atom, you will realize that most of it is empty space- a Nucleus is1,00,000 times smaller than the atom, which implies that most of your body is made up of empty space.

And since the very basic building block of your body is the atom...you do the math. 

Your body is not like a piece of bread that goes stale in two days’ time.

 In order to stay alive, your miraculous body lives on the wings of change.

Every burst of emotion triggers hundreds of millions of chemical reactions through your body that,  over time, become more permanent and visible. 

For example, have you every observed how your face or ears turn red when you are angry? 

Or how light and energetic you feel after a good, hearty laugh?

Some smiling people have eyes that always twinkle and laugh-lines around their mouths!

Do not be misled by the surface signals, they are but long-term results of continuous processes that you have been conditioning your body to. 

There are huge processes going on in this never-tiring, obedient machine that is our home. 

So you see, what you see is not really what IS. 

We make ourselves anew every instant. 

Age is but a number to fill in forms and on ID cards. 

A 12 year old can feel 80 years old after a week of bed rest, 

And a 60 year old can feel like a 6 year old after a walk on the beach, a bunch of balloons, and a nice chocolate ice cream.

So, the real question is- How OLD do you feel?! 

Before you answer take in a deep breath, close your eyes, allow yourself to be swept away by the billions of functions going on inside your body, and then breathe out. 

You are new again... 

(With learnings from Dr. Deepak Chopra's "Ageless Body, Timeless Mind)

 -By Avinash Agarwal