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The most precious gifts in our lives, and consequently the things we happen to take for granted the most, are our senses: our vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell – the building blocks of how we perceive and understand our world.

I discovered a few short and amazing videos that illustrate just how special our senses really are.

The first video is of a 29 year old deaf woman hearing her voice for the first time, the second video is of an 8 year old baby hearing his mother’s voice for the first time, and the third is a 66 year old body-builder experiencing color for the very first time.

They are really short, so just take 2 minutes right now and watch them. At the bottom of this article, I’m also going to share a quick meditation you can do to really appreciate the importance of each of the senses you have.



29 Year Old Deaf Woman Hears Her Voice for The First Time



8 Month Old Deaf Baby’s Reaction to Cochlear Implant Being Activated





66 Year Old Bodybuilder William Reed Sees Color for First Time





The reactions in these videos are striking similar. Upon each person’s experience of hearing or seeing for the first time, they are filled with astonishment and elation.

The woman is so overwhelmed by the experience that she cries in joy, while the baby quickly turns his head, drops his jaw, and then excitedly smiles at his mother. And the man is completely blown away by his experience of color for the first time.

(By the way, the man in the third video is using EnChroma Glass, though they are quite expensive and seem to have mixed results depending on the person).

Our senses are so common to us everyday that it becomes easy to take them for granted, but we can tell by watching videos like this that these senses can make a world of difference.

As technology improves, we can only hope to see more experiences like this become more common.



Imagine if you had just one sense to perceive the world

Choose one sense. Now imagine how your life would be different if you only had that one sense to perceive everything in the world and nothing else:

How would your perception of the world be different?

How would you need to think and act differently to adapt to your surroundings?

What kind of things would you no longer be able to experience?

What would it be like if your one sense became super heightened?

Take a moment to imagine what it would be like with just one of your senses. Ask yourself these questions and ponder them.

After you’re done, try out another sense. What would it be like now if you just had vision, or hearing, or touch, or taste, or smell?

It seems obvious that our senses are so important to us, but that’s exactly why it’s so important that we take the time to reflect on them and appreciate them. Often the most obvious things in life are the things we are most likely to take for granted.



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