Dihydrogen oxide. Can’t live with it; can’t live without it.
It can be benign or lethal. It can scald you or freeze you. In combination with certain organic molecules it can be so nasty as to strip leaves from trees and eat the faces off statuary. When agitated in bulk, it can strike with a fury no human edifice can withstand. It can give life. It can kill. It is water. H2O.
Life, at least as we know it on earth, cannot be sustained without water. Think about the time you were the most thirsty in your life. I’ve been in situations where I would have easily given you a hundred dollars for a quart of water. The average person dies in roughly three days without any water intake. The world record is about ten days. Water also bring joy, whether it’s relishing an ocean view or reveling in a refreshing shower. Floods, rip tides, tsunamis, and the like can cause misery and devastation . . . all caused by the same substance which is necessary for life. Water is precious and is to be both managed appreciatively and respected cautiously.
There is something else that is vital to human life which can be a gift or, if not respected and managed appreciatively, can visit gloom and doom upon an individual. Human relationships.
My forty years in a human relationships profession have revealed to me the wondrous, uplifting joy that binds many people together. I have also been party to significant misery and ruination caused by relationships that were disrespected and mishandled. Whether a relationship appreciates or depreciates life depends on the way it is managed. One cannot control what another does, but cultivating any association with a positive spirit and genuine care for the other is the starting point for something that could enhance both individuals.
Water is essential. So are life-giving relationships.
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