I have been alive for 40 years, 14,693 days, 352,652 hours, 21,159,166 minutes and 1,269,549,964 seconds.

My heart has never taken a break. Not for a single second. It has worked perfectly on over 1.5 million ins…and outs. Every chamber, every pump. My lungs smoothly filtering each breathe.

Thump-thump, thump-thump…Thump-thump, thump-thump…

Without fail, my 10 billion, 25 miles of capillaries have delivered the fresh oxygen, the fresh nutrients needed by my organs to perform their functions, while at the same time play trash collector and haul away the used-up oxygen, and the nutrient waste. Without. Fail.

Even though sometimes I beg it to, my brain has not taken a siesta since it began firing in the womb. Continuously experiencing, Continuously sensing. Oy.

My digestive system has rarely stumbled. It has beautifully ingested, distributed and cleansed 45,000 meals, 7,500 gallons of water and too too many beers. And when it did “fail” it let me know unequivocally. Which is a feature, not a bug.

My muscles and my skeleton have enabled me to live the world in 3D. A very active 3D. Only when pushed past the breaking point have they ever given way.

My manly parts are more than adequate at doing what they were intended to do. They have actually created a family where one had not existed prior.

And to top all this off lies my most outer layer of cells, my epidermis. It protects me, keeps me warm, keeps me cool, and literally heals itself Terminator 2-style.

So whether these carefully orchestrated systems continue to work harmoniously for the next 40 years, 5 years or 5 minutes, I will forever be grateful, humbled and in awe of my amazing body.

Thump-thump, thump-thump…Thump-thump, thump-thump…

Unreal.