World Without Boundaries

March 9, 2019 ~ philougbor ~ 10 Comments

In recent times, as the pace of migration and emigration increases in humans, we hear so much about boundaries, borders, and walls. Current refugee problems exacerbate the call for these boundaries. By boundaries I refer specifically to physical international demarcations. Have you ever imagined a world without boundaries?

Humans personalize things. They think in terms of ‘my own’ your own, ‘our own’, ‘their own’, ‘us and them’. Does anyone really own things that nature provided and continues to provide naturally- things like, air, rivers, oceans, land, forests, the outer space, and even life itself?

I worked for many years as a Senior Research Officer in the Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research and as a Senior Consultant for the United Nations and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), on ‘Water Pollution Control and Biodiversity Conservation’ in the Gulf of the Guinea. At the time, there were seminars and workshops on ‘Integrated Coastal Areas Management (ICAM). These seminars and workshops highlighted the fact that the Atlantic Ocean had no boundaries. Pollution along one national coastal region invariably affected the neighbouring areas and would, to a certain degree, affect the entire coastline biological resources.

In my write-up on The Connectedness of all , I tried, using an object as simple as ‘my bed’ in Zanzibar to highlight the interdependence of humanity, the connectivity of all things. In another of my blog on The “Butterfly Effect”of Life , I tried to show how any action, no matter how small or irrelevant you may think it is, can cause a continuous ripple in the ‘sea’ of life. The remote cause of World War 1 is a lasting example.

Without losing the trend of this write-up, all I am trying to portray is that in nature, there are no boundaries, no walls, no borders, only continuity, flow, and connectivity. Humans create great stress for themselves by placing constraints, demarcations and limitations.

Animals in the wild do not set boundaries, rather, their genetical make up, differentiations, and needs for survival influence their distribution. We are part of the animal kingdom. We pride ourselves as higher beings, ‘Homo sapiens’, but we stifle ourselves with so much constraints and ideologies, – politics, religion, race, gender, and now, boundaries and walls.

Recently my granddaughter, Melissa, was writing her International Baccalaureate (IB) extended essay on effects of the partitioning and Colonization of countries of Africa. Her project and write-up set me thinking. “What if all countries in Africa, for example, were left to grow or develop without the interference and partitioning by the European colonizers? Would there perhaps have emerged, different groupings of people with comfortable ethnic similarities? Perhaps the peoples’ natural instincts would have prompted them to develop means of interacting peacefully among themselves and with their neighbours’. I know there could be a lot of debate over this topic. Our own ideologies and actions have led to ‘ours and yours’ mentalities which in effect create fear, and insecurity. The fear of losing, or sharing that which we now call ‘ours’ makes us justify the need for protection – call it, boundaries, walls, borders, and nationalism. These are steeped in fears and insecurity and will increasing be so. One thing is sure, constraints create stress. Constraints create conflicts.

Consider the Internet, or take a look at the various social media like the Youtube, FaceBook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and so on. One is amazed at how these social media connect the whole world, rich and poor. One cannot but marvel at the ease with which information from these awesome media instantly flows across continents and beyond. Perhaps through these, we could someday, come to the realization that life is meant to flow without constraints, without boundaries.

The Internet World – World without boundaries

Mystery of the Human Life

August 1, 2017February 9, 2019 ~ philougbor ~ 1 Comment

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What is life?. How does one define life in general?. Scientists and philosophers have not found it easy to define life. This is partly because life is a process, not a substance. The most acceptable definition of life is a biological description – using biological and physiological characteristics of living organisms – Metabolism, Respiration, Nutrition, Irritability, Growth, Excretion, Reproduction, which in high school we memorized using the acronym ‘MR NIGER’. Although there are newer and more scientific ways of describing these biological processes, the mystery of life still lies in their perfect and synchronized execution by the human body. At the bases of these complex physiological processes are physical and chemical elements, atoms and molecules, intertwined with intelligent signaling and regulatory mechanisms necessary for maintaining life. Our body and life itself, is a field of infinite correlation of physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics with some direct influence of the planets and solar systems.

During respiration, we inhale billions of atoms and molecules that eventually end up as cells in our organs and tissues – liver cells, muscle cells, brain cells, bone cells etc. As we exhale, we discharge molecules of our degraded tissues and organs into the atmosphere. According to scientists, our body replaces 98% of all its atoms in less than one year!

“The body makes a new stomach lining every five days, a new skin, once every month, a new liver every six weeks, and a new skeleton every three months ..” (Dr Chopra)

The awesomeness of life overwhelms me at the birth of a new baby especially now that I am advanced in age with 4 grown children and 6 grand children.

The birth of each of my grand children set me in awe about this mystery. A few months ago, I was faced with the realization that my youngest daughter, my ’32-year-old-baby’ Tochi, had just given birth to her own ‘baby’, Noah. I gazed at the new born. I marveled at the perfection and the realization of the inbuilt potential already encoded in this infant – the potential to eat and digest food, to grow and eventually walk, talk, learn, reason and then become an adult. As the days ran into weeks and weeks into months, I am thrilled at the progress in the development of this ‘Newlife’. At 6 months, I watched as Noah instinctively and progressively proceeded to crawl, pushing ahead on his stomach and arms, aiming to grab the object he fancied in front of him!

The human body at maturity contains 30 to 37 trillions of cells which are the fundamental units of life. These cells are organized to form organs and systems. Each cell is continuously doing countless things per second and at the same time is aware of what the other cells are doing and correlates its activity with the others. Amazingly, despite all the activities going on within, the body maintains a stable state known as homeostasis.

Jovicevic (14 von 32).jpg — Noah at 6 months

No one puts it better than one of my most valued authors, Dr Deepak Chopra, in his book, “Power Freedom and Grace” …

“There is no time for one cell to tell the other, ‘Listen, I’m going to digest food, you wait and don’t think thoughts for now.’ Our stomach cells are digesting food, while our brain cells are thinking thoughts, while our gallbladder is making bile, while our immune system is killing germs. The cells not only do more than one thing at a time, but they all keep track of what the others are doing – otherwise, there would be a great of confusion in the body.”

This is amazing! This harmonious synchronized functioning of the human body explains why Jesus called the whole human race “One Body“. We were created to work like “ONE BODY“ in harmonious correlation!

“…. At the same time that it is correlating all these activities, our body is monitoring the movement of the earth, the moon, the planets, the stars, and the entire cosmos. Our body, our mind, our emotions, everything in our physiology is changing moment to moment, depending on the time of the day, the cycles of the moon, the seasons and even the tides..”

Wow! Our body is part of the universe! We have a direct relationship with the universe! A simple example of this synchronization of our bodies to factors of the universe is experience of the daily rhythm, the 24 hour cycle of night and day. As a result of the spinning of the earth on its axis around the sun and other solar systems, our body goes to sleep at night and awakens in the morning. Another simple example is the 28-day female menstrual cycle where biological rhythm is an expression of the cosmos. In other words, the cosmic rhythms has some impact on the human reproduction!

The human body contains 60% – 70% water, similar to the percentage of water on the planet. The rise and fall of the tides, or the tidal rhythms, which are the result of the gravitational pull exerted by the sun, the moon and stars on the oceans also affects our body such that we have periods of ‘high moods’ and ‘low moods’ in our day to day lives. Anything that goes on in the universe affects our body, whether we understand it or not. A lot can be said about the relationship of nature, or universe to the human life.

Two factors stand out here:

1 – Knowing our Purpose in life, and Living together as ONE BODY,

2 – Taking care of the Universe.

For the human life or the body, to function at it’s best, each cell in each tissue, each organ or system must know its purpose, perform its duty diligently and function in a harmonious cooperation with each other. We as living beings are created as “ONE BODY” – two words that describe God’s intention in creating us. When we know our true purpose and execute this with passion, love, gratitude, selflessness, good neighborliness, aware of our neighbours’ needs, we can create a World of Mystery and Miracles – just as the cells of the body. Each individual is important and is expected to play a role in this ONE BODY.

Secondly, the human life needs the universe. We are surrounded by nature and interact with it. Perhaps most people are only aware of the biosphere – the thin layer of the planet earth where life exists,- its soil, the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and organisms within it. We experience nature by the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. The Universe is, however, much more complex, that, even the air we breath, the water we drink and the food we eat are in relationship with the entire cosmos. Think of the seasons (Winter, Summer, Autumn and Summer) and visualize what happens to the air, the water and vegetation at the various seasons! Right from creation man has been dependent on nature and given the charge to cultivate and maintain it. Man, however, has been making serious negative incursions into our environment, through various forms of pollution, aforestation, and so on, not realizing the ultimate detriment to life itself. Conserving our environment means conserving life. Spend time in nature, admire it, learn about it and enjoy it. This is part of our duty in maintaining this Mystery called Life.

“Look deep into nature and you will

understand everything better.” – Albert Einstein

The Mystery of the Human Life is the concise description of the Mystery of Creation!

The “Butterfly Effect”of Life

January 27, 2017 ~ philougbor ~ 1 Comment

Have you ever wondered how significant your life is? Have you wondered if you make a difference – if what you do affects the universe, or, if your actions really do matter to this world you live in? Well, everything you do matters – your actions and reactions matter, not just for you but for everyone else!

The Butterfly Effect is the concept that small causes can have large effects. The expression was used with weather prediction but has became a metaphor used in everyday life situations. The theory was first presented by Edward Lorenz in 1963 to the New York Academy of Science and basically states that:

A butterfly could flap its wings and set molecules of air in motion, which would move other molecules of air, in turn moving more molecules of air—eventually capable of starting a hurricane on the other side of the planet.

Though it uses the fluttering of the butterfly as a metaphor, it is a theory that everything matters. Scientists have come to accept the authenticity of this theory and it has been accorded the status of a law:

“The Law of Sensitive Dependence Upon Initial Conditions” or “The Chaos Theory”.

When you change even the smallest of life’s details, you completely change its outcome. This theory becomes even more authentic today as outer space scientists, using the Chandra X-ray Observatory, have observed that the space we think is empty in the universe is actually not empty but filled with unique electro-magnetic energy that connects everything in the universe!

Examples of the Butterfly Effect :

Historians agree that the trigger for the World War 1 was the assassination of the Archduke, Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrio-Hungarian empire and his wife, by a young Yugoslav nationalist, Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, in June 1914. This had the butterfly effect that led to the most brutal world war involving over 65 million military from 30 countries. This war among several other outcomes, led to the death of over 17 million people and another 20 million wounded or disabled. That war changed the face of the world!

The invention of the WorldWideWeb (www) in 1989 by the English scientist Tim Berners-Lee is another example with a butterfly effect leading to the present explosion in the social media, the Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Smartphones,…… connecting people all over the globe. You can think of thousands of the continuing ‘butterfly effects’ of this one invention.

So it is with our lives. Think about the outcome of your life by the ‘simple’ chooses you made. Consider what triggered these chooses and where they’ve led you and people associated with you to, – the schools you attended, where you live, your work, how you met your spouse …..

Now, let us consider our bodies. Things we choose to eat, how we think, what we say, our emotions, and life styles, all have butterfly effects that result in the physical, physiological and psychological states we find ourselves in as individuals. These states in turn affect our health, our relationships, our families, our businesses. Habouring anger, frustration and hatred sets a butterfly effect that not only causes malfunctioning of the body and ill health, but also unpleasant relationships.

Even the smallest step we take in our lives can change the course of our lives and those of others immensely. A simple act of love or gratitude can have a butterfly effect that can lead to unforeseen consequences over time. Take a moment to think about this. Let us live our lives ‘awake‘, consciously knowing that our actions and reactions matter to the wellbeing of the Universe.

The Connectedness of all

June 10, 2016June 10, 2016 ~ philougbor ~ 7 Comments

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I see the world in all material and none material things around me. Everything and everyone are connected. We hear this all the time, but do we take a moment to think it over? This reminds me of the poem written by William Blake:

“To see the world in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.”

One morning in April 2005, while I was in Zanzibar, Tanzania, I woke up peaceful and made my morning devotions. I looked around me and felt grateful for everything. I zeroed in on the beautiful wooden carved bed I was lying on – this bed that provided rest for me. I visualized the tree from which it was made – that tree from somewhere in the forest of East Africa perhaps among the spices of this ‘Spice Island’.

That tree in the forest had received sunshine and rain to grow like all other living things at the time. That tree must have provided oxygen, fruits, or served as home to some animals, insects or birds.

Perhaps some parts of that tree had been used by some people to cook meals for their families. Perhaps some parts have been used to make furniture, or build a home for some family.

The carvings on the bed had first been conceived in the mind of some local craftsman. That tree which is now my bed had been the hard work of some craftsmen whom I’ld never know and who would never know they were making it for me. These men have fed their families with the proceeds from their workmanship.

That tree, my bed has been polished or painted using bee’s wax or some other organic solutions.

I went on to visualize the web of connections with my mattress, the pillows and the sheets and the mosquito nets. I visualized the cotton farm, the laborers that picked the soft fluffy cotton. CSIRO_ScienceImage_10736_Manually_decontaminating_cotton_before_processing_at_an_Indian_spinning_mill.jpg I imagined the textile mills where even more laborers spun the cotton into yarns or thread and the production of the cotton textile – the textile which have now become the cover of my mattress, the bed sheets, and my mosquito net.

I could go on and on about the web of life’s activities connected to my bed. There will be no end to this ‘connectedness visualization’. It is like spinning a ‘Web of Connectivity’ of all things in the world.

My bed, your bed, could be the centre of the Universe!

Service to Others

January 10, 2015March 12, 2016 ~ philougbor ~ 6 Comments

It is the New Year 2015. I wonder what to post on my blog. Perhaps, I thought, something that indicates the changing pattern of life, the circle of life. All things come and go, the good and the bad, pleasure and pain, success and disappointments, achievements and mistakes. Everything that has a beginning has an ending! 2014 had a beginning, now it’s ended. Each year, we have a new chance either to continue, or to begin again. What we do today is what matters most because there is an end.

At times like this, ask yourself, “What is really important?” I believe that what is important in life could be synonymous with the purpose of life, and in this case, your purpose in life. One of my inspirational writers, Dr Wayne Dyer, in answer to the lingering question of finding one’s purpose wrote,

“..you come into the world with absolutely nothing. You will leave this physical world with exactly the same. All of your acquisitions and achievements can’t go with you. Therefore the only thing you can do with your life is giving it away. You’ll find yourself feeling purposeful if you can find a way to always be in the service of others.”

‘Service of others!’ The purpose of life is therefore about serving others! How can you serve others? What ever you are good at and enjoy doing should be in service for others. This should not be confused with just earning a living. For instance: you teach because you love to teach, but you teach to educate others. You build because you love to build, but you build to make others happy. You cook because you love to cook, but you cook to feed others. You write because you love to images-3 express yourself in words, and these words inspire others. Even a smile is something if you give it away. Each of us has a personal calling or purpose that is unique. Develop what you love doing and then find a way to offer it to others in form of service.

This brings to mind, the interview of Steve Jobs’ wife, Laurene Jobs, after the death of her husband. When asked what she thought was Steve Jobs’ legacy, she replied, “… His ultimate aim was to create tools that allow people to work at the highest level”. We all continue to enjoy these tools today, but Steve Jobs has come to the end of his life on earth!

How can you serve others in 2015?

Philo Ugbor 's Blog

Selected write-ups on Personal Developement and Wellbeing

Life purpose