#quitbeinglazy

January 4, 2014

I got to see a live echocardiogram today as I sat with a woman whom I help with errands and driving around town. It was truly a reminder that although our hearts constrict and release several times a day to pump blood through our bodies and perform many other duties, we don't even feel it! That little thing is working hard, 100% around the clock to keep us alive!

This convicts me as I think back on all the times I have spent not working hard. Giving half my effort to complete a job or task I was given. Sometimes it has something I was being paid to do and sometimes not. Either way... the difference is that I have a choice!

The heart has NO choice! As long as it is alive and beating, all it can do is squeeze and release continuously. What is your heart's effort to beat was based solely on the effort you put into every moment of every day of life?

Would it still be beating? Or would it stop and leave you dead on the floor? How long would your life have lasted?

The heart is a hollow muscular organ that pumps blood throughout the blood vessels to various parts of the body by repeated, rhythmic contractions.[1] It is found in all animals with a circulatory system, which includes the vertebrates.[2]

The adjective cardiac means "related to the heart" and comes from the Greek καρδιά, kardia, for "heart". Cardiology is the medical speciality that deals with cardiac diseases and abnormalities.

The vertebrate heart is principally composed of cardiac muscle and connective tissue. Cardiac muscle is an involuntary striated muscle tissue specific to the heart and is responsible for the heart's ability to pump blood.

The average human heart, beating at 72 beats per minute, will beat approximately 2.5 billion times during an average 66 year lifespan, and pumps approximately 4.7-5.7 litres of blood per minute. It weighs approximately 250 to 300 grams (9 to 11 oz) in females and 300 to 350 grams (11 to 12 oz) in males.[3]