Mind over Matter

Are you your body?
Most people would answer “yes”. But if you identify the body as yourself, and simultaneously accept that you exist now and also existed five years ago, then you are wrong: The body you had five years ago does not exist today. There is a dynamic turnover of atoms and molecules that make up your body. There isn’t a single particle of matter—not one atom—present in your body today that was present five years ago. It’s not that the body you had still exists but has now changed somewhat. No. The body you had is completely gone. That collection of atoms appearing as flesh, bone, blood, hair, and so on no longer exists. Yet you still exist.
Studies at the Oak Ridge Atomic Research Center revealed that about 98 percent of all the atoms in a human body are replaced every year. You get a new suit of skin every month and a new liver every six weeks. The lining of your stomach lasts only five days before it’s replaced. Even your bones are not the solid, stable structures you might have thought them to be: They are undergoing constant change. The bones you have today are different from the bones you had a year ago.
Experts in this area of research have concluded that there is a complete, 100 percent turnover of atoms in the body at least every five years. In other words, not one single atom present in your body today was there five years ago. So when you look at a picture of “yourself” taken only seven years ago, you are looking at a body that no longer exists. That collection of atoms and molecules that went by a particular, distinct, collective label (your name) no longer exists.
Yet you know that you existed seven years ago; you were there. You also know you exist right now. The same you, or self, who existed then also exists now. It's all in the mind, the self. If it can transcend the physical, maybe it can transform the spiritual. Therefore your mind is your world, why not give it a try. Condition your mind to break free from the drawbacks of your past, to dispense of the failures and tribulations of your old self. Train your mind to embrace the hope and beauty of new horizons and your world will make it happen.