Oppens Pollicus

While I delved into the world of human anatomy and basic sciences for an upcoming exam I was struck by the sheer brilliance that is the thumb, or as we in the medical field refer to it, pollicus.

Being among the superior species as per Darwin, we were blessed with opposable thumbs due to the brilliance of the muscle “oppens pollicus” which enables us to grasp objects as well as engage in a number of various activities denied to other species.

In that single moment, I found myself absolved in the idea of what life would be like were we to lose this simple digit we take for granted. Simple activities like brushing ones teeth or eating would be lost to you. How would you grasp your food or comb your hair? In a single stroke of bad luck you could find yourself reduced to an animal. It is exquisitely amazing how one small addition to a body can make a world of difference yet we never even give it a second thought based simply on the fact that it has always been there.

It is easy to equate the beauty that is the thumb to so much we have and so much we don’t even realise we have. It is easy to always have someone in your life and not even realise how much colour, life and laughter they bring to it. We see them often enough, speak to them all the time but never do we consider the repercussions of a life without them. Of course you will live on without them as you lived before they entered your life, just as you won’t die from the loss of your thumb. However, you will find your life drastically altered. Simple pleasures like laughter will be lost to you.  You find yourself struggling to find some sense of normalcy in your day to day living and everything that once seemed easy is suddenly drenched in the sweat of difficulty.

That is the problem with taken anything for granted. We don’t realise just how much our parents do for us, how hard they work for us and how much they love us until we no longer have them around. When they are gone, you find yourself thumbless: unable to simply stir a pot of food. The importance we place on the people within our lives is dimmed by the importance we place on ourselves. Too concerned with how we feel and how other people treat us we forgot to treat them well and to treasure them in the way they deserve.

It is simple to fall in love with a person but it is everything that comes with that simple feeling of “love” that makes the difference. We are quick to take on the task of caring for another person and their feelings but all too quickly do we allow them to become just part of the furniture. We forget that they are the reason we find ourselves smiling for no reason or laughing at a song based on a simple memory associated with it. The moment that person is gone we find our lives laced with sadness and difficulty just as our lives will be fraught with pain at the loss of the thumb.

Take 10 seconds to picture how you would eat a sandwich without your thumb. In that same moment imagine one person you would equate the importance of this digit of the hand with. It seems easy enough but when you try to imagine happiness without them it becomes difficult. This is simply because happiness has become such a normal part of your life that to suddenly lose it due to the loss of someone you care for immensely seems impossible. 

Just as the thumb allows us to grasp objects, we should also learn to get a grasp on our feelings, to overcome the denial we feel inclined toward when suddenly asked if we care or love a person. Why deny something important and meaningful?

Embrace it, understand it and it will never be lost to you.