I was reading about the unfortunate passing of this year's Nobel Prize recipient for medicine, Ralph Steinman. He was a biologist who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer but was able to extend his life using therapy based upon his discovery. Read about it here.
He is credited with the discovery of something called the Dendritic Cell and it's function in the immune system. This cell is what got my attention. I read up on this small wonder. The cell acts as a messenger between the two types of immunity our bodies have...innate and adaptive. In essence, these cells are responsible for linking things that never change to those things which change often.
It's amazing how bodily processes mimic our everyday lives. We struggle to find that one thing that can help us travel between those moments in life that are both constant and ever-changing. For some, I believe their dendritic cell is religion, god, or spirituality. For others, that dendritic cell is a spouse or partner. I also believe some use addictive behaviors as a type of dendritic cell. We all seek a connection to or reliable path between those things in life which always change and those things which don't change. It's that "dendritic cell" that makes bearable the transition from one place to another. Simply put, it's that thing that helps us cope.
That's when the concept leaped right off the page I was reading... The answer is within us. While we spend all our time seeking outward ways to get back and forth from these two places in life, we completely overlook the path that is already within us. Ralph Steinman didn't have to create anything or look outside the human body. He simply had to better understand what was already present in all of us. Once this happened, he literally figured out how to extend life and fight those things that make us sick. It's truly amazing!
The Bottom Line:
Nine times out of ten, the best answers to life's unsolvable equations come from within. The way forward is already there, just waiting to be discovered. That ability to cope with the constant and with change is inside us all. When you make a commitment to understanding yourself, you will find your path...your way to and from...that calm within the storm.
