The Broken Heart, The Hungry Stomach, and The Determined Brain
Once upon a time, Andrew, a first year college student who is accustomed to having high grades in all his subjects, failed a test in his Biology Lecture class. This saddened him because he used to have perfect scores every time the teacher gives quizzes, assignments, and seatwork. Because of his failing score in the test, he got worried about his final grade.
The reason why he didn’t pass the test is because he didn’t study the lessons which were to appear in the test the night before. He was just too lazy to study because he depended too much on the previous high scores that he had. The night before the test, he was just watching his favorite television show, Glee. After he watched TV, he turned on his personal computer and played video games and surfed the internet. In the internet, he logged into his Facebook account and spent so much of his time there chatting with friends, liking pictures and statuses, and uploaded pictures of his own. He wasted his time instead of being productive in his studies.
The next day, when he took the test, he didn’t understand most of the questions asked in the test and was confused and dumbfounded. He didn’t know what to answer and he spent the whole duration of time given in the test staring at the ceiling, scratching his head, and getting tempted to cheat through looking at his seatmate’s papers. Unfortunately for him, the teacher had a keen eye and observed intently the class while they were taking the test for the whole period of time. Because of the eagle-eyed teacher, he decided that it is not the perfect and right moment to cheat. When the test was over, all his classmates submitted their test papers with contentment according to the answers they have written. For Andrew, he regretfully stood up against his chair, approached the teacher, and passed his test paper with a regretful face. Most of the questions in his test paper were unanswered, blank, or unsure. He had the cleanest test paper in the class.
On the next day, the results of the test were immediately given to the students who took it – that includes Andrew. When the test papers were distributed, most of the students in the class passed. When Andrew received his paper from the teacher, the teacher gave him an expression that suggested that he did poorly in the exam. When he finally saw the result, it was a big, devastating, and depressing F. Tears filled his eyes and regret can be seen on his face when he saw the result. He could not blame anyone because it was all his doing. He didn’t study, and that was the result. He reaped what he planted. That was the consequence of his laziness and procrastination.
When the class was dismissed, he immediately went home and locked himself in his room. He cried and cried because he was overly devastated of the result. This was his first time to fail a test. He didn’t fail before. But now, for him, things abruptly changed into a sudden course. He felt that his world turned upside down and got shattered to pieces. When his mother called him for supper, he didn’t get out of his room. He stayed there even though he was hungry, tired, and needed a bath. He did not eat anything, did not take a bath, and did not do anything but laid on his bed for comfort. He was not in the mood to do those things. He lay on his bed, closed his eyes, drifted to sleep, and began to dream.
In his dream, he was inside his body. He saw all his organ systems and their corresponding organs working together. He saw his Circulatory System, Digestive System, Endocrine System, Integumentary System, Muscular System, Nervous System, Reproductive System, Respiratory System, Skeletal System, and Urinary or Excretory System. He saw his organs; his heart, blood vessels, stomach, large and small intestines, rectum, pancreas, pituitary gland, pineal gland, hypothalamus, thyroid gland, sweat glands, muscles, brain, spinal cord, nerves, lungs, trachea, bronchi, bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, cartilage, kidneys, urinary bladder, urethra and ureters. He saw them at work and he saw how his body cooperated to keep him alive, well, and healthy.
Suddenly, he saw his heart in tears. He had the courage to ask why it was crying.
“What’s the matter, Heart?” Andrew asked with curiosity.
His heart faced him with tears welling in its eyes. “I’m sad. I’m sad because of the emotions produced in this body. I’m also sad because this body does not have the mood to eat. Where do we get nutrition when this body does not eat? Without nutrients, there will be no energy. Without energy, how can the organs work properly? When we can’t do our work properly, I could not pump blood well.” The heart said sobbing.
“That’s too bad. Well, I was not really interested to eat because I have a problem. That concerns my score. With my score in the test low, how can I have a high grade? How can I be a good student? How can I strive for a better education when my grades are low?” Andrew said.
“You should see the Stomach now. The Stomach is depressed and hungry. No food entered it for quite a while. I feel pity for the Stomach. You should see Stomach’s state right now.” The Heart said as it was pointing towards the direction of the Stomach.
“Okay. I should see Stomach right now.” Andrew said as he turned to walk towards where the Stomach is located.
As he was approaching Stomach, a group of red blood cells came pass him.
“Where are you headed?” One of the red blood cells asked Andrew.
“I’m headed towards Stomach to see what happened to him.” Andrew answered.
“We could take you there. Just go with our circulatory flow and you will arrive there safe and sound.” One of the red blood cells suggested.
“That sounds great!” Andrew answered as he approached them.
As Andrew came near to the group of red blood cells, they immediately offered Andrew a ride and together, they flowed towards the direction to where the Stomach is located. When they arrived, Andrew saw what happened to the Stomach.
The Stomach was wrinkled, green, tired, and distressed. The Stomach was also crying. Andrew, who was shocked at the sight of the state of the Stomach, approached caringly and then asked it, “What happened to you?”
“No food has entered in me for a little long while. Now some of the small and large intestines are crying out for food. We could not digest anything if we do not find any food coming to us.” The Stomach said as he bowed his head down for a sigh of discouragement.
Andrew was also affected by the Stomach’s emotions and in the middle of the Stomach’s sobs; he heard the saddening cries of the large and small intestines.
Because of the loud and miserable cries by the small and large intestines, the Brain, the captain of the body, heard it.
“What is the commotion all about?” The Brain said. His voice was too powerful that it was heard by all the organs in the body.
All the body organs answered altogether with the same tone of their miserable voices on how depressed they are for not having the energy to do their work properly.
“We do not have enough soldiers in our army to fight infection!” The white blood cells frustratingly said.
“We could not find any food to digest!” The large and small intestine shouted.
“Without the exact amount of nutrients, we are not capable of growing and nurturing this body into perfect shape!” The pituitary gland, pineal gland, and hypothalamus from the Endocrine System screamed.
“How can we protect the internal structures in the body properly when all of you are annoying us with all your infuriating screams and shouts?” The skin and the sweat glands protested from the Integumentary System protested.
“We cannot move well when all of you are not functioning well!” The muscles shouted a huge bellow.
“We could not monitor and coordinate the internal organ function for now.” The nerves and the spinal cord distressingly said.
“We can’t breathe properly!” The lungs and the bronchi from the Respiratory System yelled as they were gasping for air.
“We do not have any forms of liquid to remove wastes from and how do we maintain the water balance in the body when the body is almost dehydrated?” The kidneys, the urinary bladder, the urethra, and the ureters yelled.
Frustrated and angry, the organs are beginning to have conflicts with one another. They could not get their job done because they were not cooperating with each other. Then there came a great commotion with shouts, screams, screeches, bellows, and yells. All of them depressed, down-hearted, angry, and misunderstanding with one another.
“Peace and Order!” The Brain, which acts as the captain of the body, silenced them with these two words.
All of the organs, hearing the voice of their captain, stopped conflicting with one another. Then there was silence in the body.
The Brain, knowing that there is silence all over his crew members, found the opportunity to give his speech. Andrew listened intently.
“We work for one body,” says the Brain. “We have one mission, one goal, and one accomplishment. That is, to keep this body alive, well and healthy. We have to focus on that mission. We are a team. Team members should not fight one another. Instead, we should help each other in accomplishing our goal. Whether we have problems or not, whether there are some misunderstandings that blocks our way, we should always find a way to go right through it. We should be determined to work – to work for our mission. We should not stop. Let us keep our determination moving. It is one for all and all for one!”
Andrew was amazed to hear what the Brain had to say. Even though the Brain is wrinkled and unappealing in its form, it is full of intelligence and great wisdom. When the Brain spoke its speech, all the organs were keenly listening to it. Andrew can sense a new wave of determination filling the organs’ emotions and perseverance. In spite of what’s troubling them for the moment, they set it aside and started to work as a team to achieve their goal. The Brain is indeed the perfect captain for the body.
When Andrew noticed the organs are now starting to function to their respective jobs, the Brain approached Andrew and talked to him.
“Andrew, can I have a word with you?” The Brain said. Its voice is of a potential leader.
“Sure.” Andrew answered with delight in his eyes. The captain of the whole body wants to talk to him.
“Andrew, I know what you are experiencing now.” The Brain said.
“Yes. If you were in my part, it would be like the end of your world.” Andrew answered.
“I understand. Failure is a sharp-edged dagger at first. When you are not used to it, it will really pierce you, scourge your courage, and shatter you to splinters. But heed my say. Failure is just temporal. People do fail in some things – whether they are talents, skills, potentials, abilities, and in your case, academics. But the significance of failure is that we can learn something from it. We may fail once, and we could learn the reason why we fail.” The Brain intelligently said with his voice calm.
“Of course. I failed because I didn’t take my test seriously. Laziness caught me in the way. What’s worse is that I let myself trapped in it. I didn’t get the chance to fight laziness and substitute it to hard work. It was I who made me a failure.” Andrew said as he suddenly bowed his head down, ashamed of what happened and what he put himself into.
“Do not put too much of the blame on yourself. It doesn’t help. Do not be completely discouraged. Failure does not define who you are. Failure does not judge who you are ought to be. Failure doesn’t stay in you always. Failure doesn’t destroy you. It makes you who you are. It challenges you capabilities and your strengths. It helps you gain wisdom from things – things that include choices of difficult decisions. Failure attempts to encourage you to add more patience, perseverance, and to strive harder. Though, putting too much pressure on your self is a bad thing. Do not let failures stay in your heart. Move on from it and learn from it.” The Brain said.
Encouraged, relieved, and contented by the Brain’s statement, Andrew smiled for joy. “Thank you so much for those encouraging words. It really helped me a lot.”
“It is my duty to help remember? I’m the Brain of your body, the captain of the crew. It is my job to guide and to see to it that everything works accordingly to keep you alive.” The Brain let loose a smile of encouragement.
“Thank you Brain.” Andrew said gratefully.
“You are most welcome, Andrew. Oh and another thing, when you are depressed, try to keep your body healthy. It doesn’t help when you don’t eat. Be nutritious at times even when you’re feeling low. Your organs do not work well with an empty stomach.” The Brain suggested.
“Copy that, Sir!” Andrew answered.
As they finished their conversation, the Brain took the chance to show Andrew all the parts and systems of his body. They visited the Circulatory System, whose main function is to transport nutrients and gases to cells and tissues throughout the body, with organs that include the heart, the blood vessels, the lymph nodes, the thymus, and the spleen. They went to the Digestive System and the Stomach, now cooperating with the other organs, showed Brian the proper way of how food gets digested and will be broken down into smaller molecules to provide energy for the body. They visited the Endocrine System with its organs, the pituitary gland, pineal gland, and the hypothalamus, function together to help maintain growth and homeostasis within the body. They went to the Integumentary System which protects the internal structures of the body from damage, prevents dehydration, stores fat, and produces vitamins and hormones. They visited the Muscular System with muscles corresponding to the movement of the body even the slightest brow that is arched. They went to the Nervous System which is where the Brain is located with a job that monitors and coordinates internal organ function and responds to changes in the external environment. They went to the Respiratory System and Andrew got the chance to meet the lungs, the trachea, and the bronchi whose main function is to provide the body with oxygen through gas exchange between air from the outside environment and gasses in the blood. They went to the Skeletal System with hard and full-of-calcium bones, joints, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage whose main function is to support and protect the body while giving it shape and form. Finally, they finished their tour at the Urinary or Excretory System with organs that include kidneys, urinary bladder, urethra, and ureters and they remove wastes and maintain water balance in the body. Andrew saw that all the organs are now functioning perfectly with teamwork and determination.
When they finished their trip, it was now the time to wake up. Andrew bade farewell to the Brain and as he waved his hand, he suddenly woke up. He is now back in his room. It was all just a dream. A dream, but a meaningful dream that is. Andrew learned to never forsake his body when he’s got difficult problems to worry about. What’s most important is that he learned that failure helps in achieving your goal by learning from it and moving on.
“From now on, I am going to strive for the better. If I may succeed, I’m going to keep it up and consistently practice it. If ever I may fail, I am going to do better next time and strive for the best with determination, perseverance, and hard work!” Andrew said as he got up from his bed, got out from his room, went in their kitchen, and eat what’s left of the dinner his mother made.
