The Power of Water

Water. H2O. It is the simplest, most used, and life-giving liquid known to man. Think about it...

Water is all around us. About 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, and the oceans hold about 96.5% of the Earth's water. Astounding statistics! In addition to oceans, other bodies of water include seas, bays, canals, straits, gulfs, inlets, harbors, lakes, rivers, tributaries, sounds, fjords, estuaries, coves, firths, swamps, shoals, springs, basins, channels, reservoirs, moats, lagoons, bogs, wetlands, marshes, bayous, ponds, streams, and creeks.

Let us not take any of this for granted for one minute.

We use it to replenish our thirst. In fact, if you go a certain amount of days without water, you will most certainly die. It's that important to sustaining us as human beings. Our bodies are made up of anywhere between 45% and 75% of water on average as well. That is amazing!

We use it to clean the dishes, to clean our bodies through bathing and/or showering, to clean our clothes, to wash our hands after going to the bathroom or touching something dirty/unsanitary, and to brush our teeth. Of course, the water has to be clean in order to properly do any of these things. If it isn't, then water can be to our detriment. If the water is clean, then all of these actions are vital to keeping us as healthy as possible.

We use it to generate power. Through the fairly new (in the grand scheme of things) technology of hydroelectric power, we've found a way to literally (and metaphorically) channel moving water to drive a turbine which powers a generator.

We use it to help seeds, herbs, and plants grow. Every spring, summer, and early fall, we take out our watering can, a hose, and go around the outside of the house watering the garden and other areas we feel need the TLC that water gives it. It helps keep the grass green and growing!

We use it as a form of exercise and play. Be it swimming short distances and playing around in a swimming pool, swimming in a gym or township pool like the YMCA, going to Six Flags Great Adventure (lazy river, wave pool, water slides at Hurricane Harbor), taking out the sprinkler at home to have the kids run through it, breaking out the water guns, having a water balloon fight, swimming in the ocean, lake, or river, these forms of exercise and play are regularly engaged in by people young and old.

Water falls from the sky in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet/ice, hail and snow. Sleet/ice and snow may not seem like water at first glance, but they most certainly are. They're just variations of frozen water. You have to love precipitation.

We use it to put out fires. Nothing else needs to be said about this other than it is amazing we can use it for this purpose as well. So many lives have been saved because of it!

Water provides a sense of calm, easing tensions, anxieties, stresses, and worries. If you were to listen to the water flowing of a small creek when out on a hike in the woods, I bet you would feel better about everything in life. Whenever I'm at the beach, the sound of the ocean waves breaking against the shoreline has this healing quality to it for me. Maybe you feel the same way, maybe you don't. At any rate, it's hard to ignore when you feel something like this every time you put yourself in its presence.

Of course, I spoke about all of the great attributes of water here. As we all know, water can also be destructive in various ways: all of the above bodies of water could overflow and flood, you could have flooding in your basement from too much rain in a short amount of time, hurricane's can stir up the oceans in crazy ways, tsunami's and tidal waves can take out entire villages and towns, and you can become sick by using dirty or tainted water. However, let us choose to focus more on the positive benefits of water, for the positives far outweigh the negatives. It all goes to show that water is not only all around us, but extremely powerful, important, and necessary to every day life.

Water. H2O.