Made Of Water (Living Your Life With Dr. Abdulfattah Adeyemi)
Water, water, and water. Water is our origin, for all living things arose from it. It is the liquid that “gushes forth” when the male sows his seed in the female. It is the cocktail that reproduces the cells which forms the developing embryo. Water surrounded us throughout our stay in our mother’s womb. On it we fed, in it we slept. Its wetness bathed our skins, its fluidity cushioned our tenderness, its moisture greased our limbs, its flow eased our movements and its mystery shaped our destiny.
Water: we sweat it in perspiration, we shed it in tears, we excrete it in urines and we secrete it in hormones. Our body is composed mainly of water. We are more or less like cucumbers. Without us, there can be water, but without water, there cannot be us, for it is the food of life. Without water, even the plants would wither and expire; the animals would thirst and die. Water quenches the thirst of the dry earth, and brings life to the barren soil. Thus, it is an indicator of life, a sign of fertility, and a symbol of blessings. It comes with prosperity and wealth, but it also brings misfortune, destruction and death.
We find similar attributes of water in our nature as it reflect in our characters. Water represents our emotions and moods, so it ebbs and flows, it adapts and changes. If not contained and controlled, it could mire our enthusiasm and dampen our spirits. So also can “water-based” people extinguish our desire for life and drown our zest for living. Are you a source of tears that is shed by the eyes whose heart is broken, or that of joy shed by a gladdened soul? Have you made yourself a source of life for others, or an instrument of destruction? Are you a gentle, rippling pool, or a raging, stormy sea?
We should all endeavourer to act as the rain water that revives and sustains the lives it touches. We should nourish and care for each other just as water does to living beings. We should cushion and support each other just like water surrounds the growing embryo without suffocating it. Shouldn’t we cherish and value each other the way a desert traveler regards water? However, when we become superfluous for each other, pouring forth our gems, let us not be wasteful, or take each other for granted, but be grateful for the grace of buoyancy and coolness.
Water is a means of purity and healing, a sign of clarity and charity, a demonstration of love and compassion, and a manifestation of maturity and spirituality. Water has rhythm, balance, tranquility and harmony. Water can take the shape of whatever contains it, and it can contain the shape of whatever it takes. These are the qualities we should “drink” into our relationships, so we can flow together, tolerate one another and be easy with each other. We are all made of water.
