The Autonomic Nervous System and things outside your control

Many bodily functions are under an individual’s direct conscious control. For instance, you decide when to stand and when to walk, eat, and drink. You receive impulses from the peripheries, but the response (decision) to effect the aforementioned activities is yours.

However, there are other functions in the body that do not require your conscious effort. Simply put, they are beyond your will or volition. For instance, you do not control your heart rate or the contraction of the smooth muscles in your digestive system. These functions are under the control of what is called the autonomic or peripheral nervous system, which functions autonomously. It is different from the central nervous system, which comprises the brain, and spinal cord.

God, in His wisdom, created you and brought several vital functions under your control (requiring your consciousness to function). However, he kept others out of your control, setting up these mechanisms to work properly, even while you are deep asleep. For instance, your heart doesn’t stop beating nor do you stop breathing while you are having those wonderful dreams at night. Do you know that your enteric system (gut) is a nervous system, acting as a brain independent of the brain found in your skull?

The Juice: If some things are beyond your conscious effort within your body, why do you think you can control everything outside your body? Why do you even attempt to control other people’s feelings about you? Why do you think you can control all life events? Why worry over events that its outcomes would not have changed with or without your input?

If you want to control all elements of nature before taking a step, I guarantee you that you’ll remain in a spot all your life. The moment you move a toe to accomplish any goal, there will be situations that you would never have forecasted coming around. This is life, and it doesn’t take permission from you to throw things up – things way beyond your will and control.

Today’s chore: Write the things you can control and paste them on your wall. Write the things you can’t control and throw them into the waste bin.

Reflection: Focus on the things you can control and leave the rest for God to worry about.